Sophia C. reviewed on 9/5/2011 + 289 more book reviews

Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections is a bold novel about a dysfunctional American family. Alfred the patriarch is going downhill with Parkinson's disease; his wife Enid is trying to gather the three grown children for 'one last Christmas' in the fictional Midwestern town of St. Jude. Gary, Chip, and Denise have their own issues. Franzen excels at intense character studies that criss-cross and cut into each other's narratives, while at the same time critiquing the excesses he sees in American culture. Although the intensity weans a bit at the end, it's a well-told story of fundamentally unhappy, depressed, and angry people.

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