Franzen's Favorite Fiction
He's on our list of great American writers, but we wanted to know: What are Jonathan Franzen's favorite books?
Desperate Characters by Paula Fox
From the Publisher
Otto and Sophie Bentwood live childless in a renovated Brooklyn brownstone. The complete works of Goethe line their bookshelf, their stainless-steel kitchen is newly installed, and their Mercedes is parked curbside. But after Sophie is bitten on the hand while trying to feed a half-starved neighborhood cat, a series of small and ominous disasters begin to plague their lives. The fault lines of their marriage are revealed—echoing the fractures of society around them, slowly wrenching itself apart. First published in 1970 to great acclaim, this novel stands as one of the most dazzling and rigorous examples of the storyteller's craft in postwar American literature—a novel that, according to Irving Howe, ranks with Billy Budd and The Great Gatsby.
Published 10/15/2010