Farther Away

Farther Away
Jonathan Franzen

Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom was the runaway most-discussed novel of 2010, an ambitious and searching engagement with life in America in the 21st century. The editor of The New York Times Book Review, Sam Tanenhaus, proclaimed it “a masterpiece of American fiction” and lauded its illumination, “through the steady radiance of its author’s profound moral intelligence, the world we thought we knew.” Now, a new collection of Franzen’s non-fiction brings fresh evidence of that moral intelligence, confirming his status not only as a great American novelist but also as a master noticer, social critic, and self-investigator.In ‘Farther Away’, which gathers together essays and speeches written mostly in the past five years, the writer returns with renewed vigor to the themes, both human and literary, that have long preoccupied him. Whether recounting his violent encounter with bird poachers in Cyprus, examining his mixed feelings about the suicide of his friend and rival David Foster Wallace, or offering a moving and witty take on the ways that technology has changed how people express their love, these pieces deliver on Franzen’s implicit promise to conceal nothing from the reader. On a trip to China to see first-hand the environmental devastation there, he doesn’t omit to mention his excitement and awe at the pace of China’s economic development; the trip becomes a journey out of his own prejudice and moral condemnation. Taken together, these essays trace the progress of unique and mature mind wrestling with itself, with literature, and with some of the most important issues of our day. Farther Away is remarkable, provocative, and necessary.

JONATHAN FRANZEN

FARTHER AWAY

Copyright

4th Estate

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.4thEstate.co.uk (http://www.4thEstate.co.uk)

This ebook first published in Great Britain by 4th Estate in 2012

First published in the United States by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2012

Copyright © Jonathan Franzen 2012

The right of Jonathan Franzen to be identified as the author

of this work has been asserted by him in accordance

with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

A catalogue record for this book is

available from the British Library

HB ISBN 978-0-00-745951-3

TPB ISBN 978-0-00-746308-4

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © MAY 2012 ISBN: 9780007459520

Version 2017-03-28

Praise

From the reviews of Farther Away:

‘These essays are exemplary instances of reader-friendly criticism in that they can be studied profitably even by people unfamiliar with the works in question … One way or another, the essays in Farther Away are attempts to enlarge the place where literature and the responsiveness to it, can be preserved.’

Geoff Dyer, Observer

‘The world of literature, besieged as he believes it is, needs authors who care. And Franzen really cares. His attitude might be aggressively highbrow, but his underlying concerns are simple and humance: family, age, grief, love.’

Tim Walker, Independent

‘As with the best of essayists, Mr Franzen uses personal thoughts or anecdotes as a springboard to explore wider themes … A multifaceted and revealing collection, Farther Away actually brings the reader closer to the author.’

The Economist

‘In a book that is never less than superbly intelligent … Franzen’s wit and loving kindness comes as abrupt surprises as if a glossy, paunchy bishop has suddenly started to play hopscotch.’

Richard Davenport-Hines, Spectator

‘Franzen is arguably America’s greatest living novelist … In this anthology of magazine assignments, social criticism and cobweb-clearing travel journalism, he writes continually about writing and reading, luxuriating in language and sticking up for literature for literature’s sake. It’s a mostly thrilling journey … Franzen’s meditations on literature form the meat of this collection … Though seemingly preoccupied with writing and literature, his essays travel many subjects and moods.’

Paul Clements, Daily Telegraph

‘Brimful with the wit, invention and resonance of his fiction.’

Ben Felsenburg, Metro

Dedication

To Tom Hjelm, for the lessons in writing,

and to Göran Ekström, for the lessons in travel

Contents

Cover (#u851a6993-03ff-5f21-93b6-66e51a3dd3cd)

Title Page (#u0b2b6696-28cb-5f53-a9bd-64dadd615488)

Copyright

Praise (#u266d5f8e-6d5b-508f-95c7-2db1d1769625)

Dedication

PAIN WON’T KILL YOU (2011)

FARTHER AWAY (2011)

THE GREATEST FAMILY EVER STORIED (2010)

HORNETS (2010)

THE UGLY MEDITERRANEAN (2010)

THE CORN KING (2010)