Hardback
February 16, 2023
9781643363707
English
164
9.00 Inches (US)
6.00 Inches (US)
.8 Pounds (US)
$65.99 USD, £51.50 GBP
v2.1 Reference
Paperback / softback
February 16, 2023
9781643363714
English
164
9.00 Inches (US)
6.00 Inches (US)
.55 Pounds (US)
$21.99 USD, £17.00 GBP
v2.1 Reference

Understanding Jonathan Franzen

The first comprehensive study to address Franzen's work to date, including his latest novel, Crossroads

Jonathan Franzen—novelist and essayist—is a critical darling, commercial success, and magnet for controversy. His career took off with the publication of The Corrections (2000), which won a National Book Award and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. His follow-up, Freedom (2009), received so much attention that it started a debate over the politics of critical attention. Love him or hate him, Franzen has proven to be a crucial figure in twenty-first century American letters, and the publication of each new novel has been a major literary event.

In Understanding Jonathan Franzen, Timothy W. Galow studies Franzen's first five novels and surveys his most recent, Crossroads, which was published to much fanfare in 2021. He traces Franzen's work from its roots in late twentieth-century literary theory and experimental postmodernism through the socially conscious family novels for which the author is best known. This careful analysis provides a new lens for viewing each of the works and demonstrates why Franzen's stories of (white, bourgeois) American life have inspired and provoked readers for over two decades.

About the Author

Timothy W. Galow is professor of English at Carroll University. He is the author of Understanding Dave Eggers.

Reviews

"Perhaps no other contemporary American author elicits such pronounced responses as Franzen, but in this illuminating study, Timothy W. Galow accessibly and deftly argues for us to separate the public persona of Franzen from the complexity of his fiction. Focusing on the major novels of Franzen's career, Galow charts the layered and aesthetically nuanced work of a novelist fascinated by falsity, binaries, and changing socioeconomic patterns in American society."—Paul Gagliardi, Marquette University

"Understanding John Franzen is a road map for those who want to learn about Franzen's life and his highly controversial characters. Galow provides summaries and offers discussion of The 27th Century, Strong Motion, The Correction, Freedom, and Purity that question literary stereotypes and recurrent themes found in Franzen's novels. I have no doubt readers will be entertained by this must-read glimpse into Franzen and his life through Galow's detailed and entertaining story."—Dolores Greenawalt, Carroll University

 

9781643363707 : understanding-jonathan-franzen-galow
Hardback
164 Pages
$65.99 USD
9781643363714 : understanding-jonathan-franzen-galow
Paperback / softback
164 Pages
$21.99 USD

Other Titles by Timothy W. Galow

Understanding Dave Eggers

Timothy W. Galow
Nov 2014 - University of South Carolina Press
$41.99 USD - Hardback

Other Titles from Understanding Contemporary American Literature

Understanding Margaret Atwood

Donna M. Bickford
Aug 2023 - University of South Carolina Press
$114.99 USD - Hardback
$21.99 USD - Paperback / softback
$21.99 USD - Electronic book text

Understanding Etheridge Knight, updated edition

Michael S. Collins
Aug 2023 - University of South Carolina Press
$21.99 USD - Paperback / softback

Understanding Gish Jen, updated edition

Jennifer Ann Ho
Jun 2023 - University of South Carolina Press
$21.99 USD - Paperback / softback

Other Titles in LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 21st Century

Everything Is Sampled

Akinwumi Adesokan
Mar 2023 - Indiana University Press
$90.00 USD - Hardback
$45.00 USD - Paperback / softback

Passage to the Center

Daniel Tobin
Oct 2021 - University Press of Kentucky
$45.00 USD - Electronic book text
$25.00 USD - Paperback / softback

Understanding Kate Atkinson

Brian Diemert
Dec 2020 - University of South Carolina Press
$59.99 USD - Hardback
$19.99 USD - Paperback / softback