The Corrections: A Novel

Jonathan Franzen

Sep 2001 · Sold by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

About this ebook

#1 NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER *A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: TOP TEN

“A spellbinding novel” (People) from the New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Franzen, the author of Crossroads, The Corrections is a comic, tragic epic of worlds colliding: an old-fashioned world of civic virtue and sexual inhibitions, a new world of home surveillance, hands-off parenting, do-it-yourself mental health care, and globalized greed.

After almost fifty years as a wife and mother, Enid Lambert is ready to have some fun. Unfortunately, her husband, Alfred, is losing his sanity to Parkinson’s disease, and their children have long since flown the family nest to the catastrophes of their own lives.

The oldest, Gary, a once-stable portfolio manager and family man, is trying to convince his wife and himself that, despite certain alarming indicators, he is not clinically depressed. The middle child, Chip, has lost his seemingly secure academic job and is failing spectacularly at his new line of work. And Denise, the youngest, has escaped a disastrous marriage only to pour her youth and beauty down the drain of an affair with a married man—or so her mother fears.

Desperate for some pleasure to look forward to, Enid has set her heart on an elusive goal: bringing her family together for one last Christmas at home.

Ratings and reviews

This took me a while to get into - I realized after finishing it's because the first section is written by a narrator whom I just didn't like as a character. The next sections narrated by other characters got much better. Interesting story about a dysfunctional family from the midwest.

Truly excellent. Incredible, even. Perhaps not great for anybody with an oversensitivity to unpleasant and/or downright depressing topics. However, it's written so well and with such an engaging style, I'd still recommend it. Three cheers.

Excessive in mundane material;several times in the book. Pages and pages of descriptive details that did not enhance the story. Overkill.

About the author

Jonathan Franzen is the author of five novels, including The Corrections, Freedom, and Crossroads, and five works of nonfiction, including Farther Away and The End of the End of the Earth, all published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He lives in Santa Cruz, California.