Jonathan Franzen - Freedom, September 24, 7 p.m. at GW Lisner Auditorium

We originally scheduled this event to take place at Politics & Prose because we always prefer to offer our customers the experience of hearing their favorite authors at the bookstore. As the excitement has built - with glowing reviews from The New York Times Book Review before the book was even released, to the news leaking that President Obama was reading a copy, to the cover of Time Magazine, and a reconciliation with Oprah and her book club, we at Politics & Prose realized that it would not be possible to accommodate the expected attendees.

Due to this overwhelming public enthusiasm, we are moving our event with Jonathan Franzen from the bookstore to the George Washington University Lisner Auditorium. Directions here.

 

 

The event is still free and open to the public and does not require tickets (seating is general admission). Doors will open at 6 p.m. The event will include a talk, reading, Q&A, and book signing. Copies of FREEDOM are in the store now (click here to buy now) and will also be available for purchase at GW Lisner.

 

 

Politics & Prose hosts Jonathan Franzen as he reads and presents his newest novel Freedom at GW Lisner Auditorium

Nine years after his National Book Award-winning The Corrections, Franzen chronicles the ups and downs--mainly the downs--of the Berglunds. Patty, once a promising basketball player, is now a depressed suburban wife and mother, battling neighbors and her own demons. Her husband talks green but does business with the coal industry, while their old friend Richard has descended from would-be rock stardom to building decks.

 

 

For your reading interest, here is a link to Michiko Kakutani's glowing review in the New York Times,

Jonathan Franzen’s galvanic new novel, "Freedom," showcases his impressive literary toolkit — every essential storytelling skill, plus plenty of bells and whistles — and his ability to throw open a big, Updikean picture window on American middle-class life. With this book, he’s not only created an unforgettable family, he’s also completed his own transformation from a sharp-elbowed, apocalyptic satirist focused on sending up the socio-economic-political plight of this country into a kind of 19th-century realist concerned with the public and private lives of his characters.

Thank you for supporting P&P and for your interest in this event. We hope you will join us on Friday when we welcome Jonathan Franzen to Washington, D.C.