J-Franz Gets a Phone-In
A new tell-all book on the Kennedys is coming out. But this time, it’s from the inside. The book is authored by Christopher Kennedy Lawford, and will include an essay by Ted Kennedy entitled “Mary Jo...
View ArticleJ-Franz Returns
Rake points to a new story from J-Franz in the New Yorker. Our immediate impressions can be summed up as follows: Hey, J, ever heard of paragraph breaks? Was there ever a clunkier lead sentence wrought...
View ArticleA Special Therapeutic Column from Jonathan Glandzen
In May 1981, a few months into the Reagan administration, my father and my brother Colin and in fact every member in my family started fighting. They weren’t fighting about Reagan, per se, but they...
View ArticleMorning Pileup
Frederick Forsyth has decided to run against Tony Blair. Well, if this is what it takes to get him to stop writing, count me in as one of his most febrile supporters. Chang-rae Lee’s next novel will...
View ArticleComic Strips for Everyone
This Comic Strip Generator is a hoot. I very quickly created a Jonathan Franzen-related strip, if anyone’s interested. [UPDATE: It seems that one Madinkbeard has used the comic strip generator to...
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The Discomfort Zone
There’s a good deal of commotion over Michiko Kaukutani’s review of Jonathan Franzen’s The Discomfort Zone. Has Michiko gone too far? Having read most of the contents of this disgraceful essay...
View ArticleFranzen is Funny
Two “funnies” anyway from Lorrie Moore. Of course, at the New Yorker, every contributor is funny. Particularly when you’re contributing too.
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Superman II: Donner Cut vs. Lester Cut
I don’t believe Richard Donner’s cut of Superman II (recently released on DVD) is necessarily better than the 1981 theatrical cut directed by Richard Lester, but it is still fascinating on its own...
View ArticleReason #426 Why Jonathan Franzen is No Fun
Jonathan Franzen does not want to be my Facebook friend. He is, however, Howard Junker’s Facebook friend. This is understandable, because Howard Junker is Howard Junker. Nevertheless. Many of my former...
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So What Just Happened Here?
One can only assume that Franzen decided against friending me after nearly choking on his lunch.
View ArticleThis Just In
Jonathan Franzen has disappeared from Facebook, presumably heading to that isolated edifice where Greta Garbo once resided. Oh well. It’s too bad J-Franz is no fun. But on the bright side, L’Affaire...
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NBA 2007 Podcast #1: Jonathan Franzen
(This podcast is part of our National Book Awards coverage for 2007, in which five bloggers are attempting various journalistic experiments using unusual technological methods. For more posts and...
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Did Jonathan Franzen Cut a Censorship Deal with Terry Gross?
On October 26, 2001, Dennis Loy Johnson reported on the Franzen fiasco: Three days later in an interview on National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air” he told host Terry Gross that he was still conflicted...
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Terry Gross Responds
Terry Gross, recently referenced in this story involving a Jonathan Franzen interview that had been cut for broadcast, has been kind enough to respond to my questions. She informs me that “there has...
View ArticleThe Brooklyn Book Festival: Hopelessly Manhattanized?
I don’t wish to sound ungrateful for the gratis plastic cup of wine that I enjoyed on Friday night, but the Brooklyn Book Festival launch party was more than a tad pedantic. The crowd of elitist...
View ArticleBad Neighbors
Walter and Patty Melted were the young products of Franzen Hill — the first dreadful characters to spit out of the misanthropic novelist’s mind since the old heart of The Twenty-Seventh City had fallen...
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Exclusive! Cover for Franzen’s Newest Novel!
(UPDATE: Ellen Wernecke also has a cover. Should there be a Photoshop contest or something?)
View ArticleJonathan Franzen vs. Richard Stark: Which Writer Really “Knows” the World?
Sam Tanenhaus: “Once again Franzen has fashioned a capacious but intricately ordered narrative that in its majestic sweep seems to gather up every fresh datum of our shared millennial life. Franzen...
View ArticleSolipsism is for Cowards. Go for Full-Fledged Hubris.
A couple of weeks ago, I replaced my 51-year-old Ego with a much more powerful Post-Dave Died of Boredom Hubris. Needless to say, I was impressed with how far my haughtiness had advanced in three...
View ArticleWhat Jonathan Franzen Didn’t Include in His New York Times Op-Ed
On May 28, 2011, The New York Times published a Jonathan Franzen op-ed “adapted from a commencement speech he delivered on May 21 at Kenyon College. The piece contained a link to an audio version of...
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