He also studied on a Fulbright Scholarship at Freie Universität Berlin in Berlin in 1981–82 he speaks fluent German. Martone, on whom he would later base the character Walter Berglund in Freedom. As part of his undergraduate education, he studied abroad in Germany during the 1979–80 academic year with Wayne State University's Junior Year in Munich program. Louis, Missouri, and graduated with high honors from Swarthmore College, receiving a degree in German in 1981. Franzen grew up in an affluent neighborhood, on 83 Webster Woods Drive in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. His father, raised in Minnesota, was the son of an immigrant from Sweden his mother's ancestry was Eastern European. Early life and education įranzen was born in Western Springs, Illinois, the son of Irene (née Super) and Earl T. In recent years, Franzen has become recognized for his opinions on everything from social networking services such as Twitter ('What happens to the people who want to communicate in depth, individual to individual, in the quiet and permanence of the printed word?' 'the actual substance of our daily lives is total electronic distraction' ) to the impermanence of e-books ('All the real things, the authentic things, the honest things, are dying off') and the self-destruction of America.

Oprah Winfrey's book club selection in 2001 of The Corrections led to a much publicized feud with the talk show host. His 1996 Harper's essay ' Perchance to Dream' bemoaned the state of contemporary literature. Franzen's latest novel Crossroads was published in 2021, and is the first in a projected trilogy.įranzen has contributed to The New Yorker magazine since 1994.

His novel Freedom (2010) garnered similar praise and led to an appearance on the cover of Time magazine alongside the headline ' Great American Novelist'. His 2001 novel The Corrections, a sprawling, satirical family drama, drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, was a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist, earned a James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. Jonathan Earl Franzen (born August 17, 1959) is an American novelist and essayist.

Franzen trilogy