Friday, October 7, 2011

Meet the master

Acclaimed novelist to speak Sunday

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By KATHERINE WUTZ
Express Staff Writer

Acclaimed author Jonathan Franzen will speak at the Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood in Ketchum on Sunday, Oct. 9. Courtesy photo.

If you're not familiar with Jonathan Franzen, it's time to get acquainted with the current master of American fiction.

Not only has the 52-year-old American novelist been the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, a Guggenheim fellowship and the coveted National Book Award for his 2001 novel "The Corrections," but Franzen has been lauded by The New York Times and Washington Post as one of today's great fiction writers.

Still not ringing any bells? Luckily, the Sun Valley Center for the Arts will be welcoming Franzen to Ketchum on Sunday, Oct. 9, for a lecture entitled "On Autobiography and Fiction."

Franzen will discuss the major questions most asked of fiction writers: Who are your influences? What time of day do you work, and what do you use to write? Do your characters take the story over? How autobiographical is your fiction work?

Franzen's first novel, "The Twenty-Seventh City," was released in 1988 to mixed critical reviews. It wasn't until 2001 that Franzen skyrocketed to fame on the success of "The Corrections," a novel that explored the dynamics of the modern American family, consumer culture, antidepressants and the ravages of Parkinson's disease.

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Ron Charles of The Christian Science Monitor called the work "wildly brilliant, funny and wise, a rich feast of cultural analysis," and the novel was chosen for Oprah Winfrey's book club—though Franzen himself fought this honor, worrying that potential male readers might be deterred by an endorsement by the female icon.

The author's latest work, "Freedom," received mixed reviews when it was released in 2010, but was acclaimed by The Christian Science Monitor, The Independent, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and the New York Times Book Review.

"Jonathan Franzen's new novel, 'Freedom'... is a masterpiece of American fiction," wrote Sam Tanenhaus of The New York Times in his 2010 review.

"Freedom," according to Tanenhaus, explores the collisions between individuals inherent in the idea of personal liberty and the dynamics between dreams and power. "Franzen grasps that the central paradox of modern American liberalism inheres not in its doctrines but in the unstated presumptions that govern its daily habits," Tanenhaus wrote.

Franzen will speak at 6:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood on Saddle Road in Ketchum. Season tickets for The Center's entire 2011-2012 lecture series are on sale for $115 for members and $170 for non-members.

Individual tickets are $25 for Center members, $35 for non-members and $15 for students with identification. Tickets can be purchased at www.sunvalleycenter.org or at The Center in Ketchum.

Katherine Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com

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