Editing Jonathan Franzen (section)

=== ''The Corrections'' ===
{{main|The Corrections}}
Franzen's ''The Corrections'', a novel of social criticism, garnered considerable critical acclaim in the United States, winning both the 2001 [[National Book Award for Fiction]]<ref name=nba2001>{{Cite web|title=National Book Awards 2001|url=https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2001/|access-date=March 5, 2023|website=National Book Foundation|language=en-US|archive-date=April 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405101325/https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2001/|url-status=live}}</ref>
and the 2002 [[James Tait Black Memorial Prize]] for fiction.<ref name="bookprizeinfo1">{{Cite web |url=http://www.bookprizeinfo.com/showbook.php?book=225 |title=Book Prize Information – The Corrections |publisher=Bookprizeinfo.com |access-date=March 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129022848/http://www.bookprizeinfo.com/showbook.php?book=225 |archive-date=November 29, 2010 }}</ref> The novel was also a finalist for the 2001 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction,<ref name="bookprizeinfo1"/> the 2002 [[PEN/Faulkner Award]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.penfaulkner.org/award_for_fiction_previous.php |title=PEN / Faulkner Foundation Award For Fiction Previous |publisher=Penfaulkner.org |access-date=March 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302080028/http://www.penfaulkner.org/award_for_fiction_previous.php |archive-date=March 2, 2010 }}</ref> and the 2002 [[Pulitzer Prize for Fiction]] (won by [[Richard Russo]] for ''[[Empire Falls]]'').<ref>{{cite web |title=2002 Pulitzer Prizes |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2002 |website=pulitzer.org |access-date=June 13, 2023}}</ref>

In September 2001, ''The Corrections'' was selected for [[Oprah Winfrey]]'s [[Oprah's Book Club|book club]]. Franzen initially participated in the selection, sitting down for a lengthy interview with Oprah and appearing in [[B-roll]] footage in his hometown of St. Louis (described in an essay in ''How To Be Alone'' titled "Meet Me In St. Louis"). In October 2001, however, ''[[The Oregonian]]'' printed an article in which Franzen expressed unease with the selection. In an interview on [[National Public Radio]]'s ''[[Fresh Air]]'', he expressed his worry that the Oprah logo on the cover dissuaded men from reading the book:

{{blockquote|I had some hope of actually reaching a male audience and I've heard more than one reader in signing lines now at bookstores say "If I hadn't heard you, I would have been put off by the fact that it is an Oprah pick. I figure those books are for women. I would never touch it." Those are male readers speaking. I see this as my book, my creation.<ref>{{cite news|first=Terry|last=Gross|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1131456|title=Novelist Jonathan Franzen|work=Fresh Air|publisher=NPR|date=October 15, 2001|access-date=April 4, 2018|archive-date=August 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817092355/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1131456|url-status=live}}</ref>|}}

Soon afterward, Franzen's invitation to appear on Oprah's show was rescinded. Winfrey announced, "Jonathan Franzen will not be on the Oprah Winfrey show because he is seemingly uncomfortable and conflicted about being chosen as a book club selection. It is never my intention to make anyone uncomfortable or cause anyone conflict. We have decided to skip the dinner and we're moving on to the next book."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/08/jonathan_franzen_s_the_corrections_and_oprah_winfrey_s_book_club.html|title=Corrections|last=Kachka|first=Boris|date=August 5, 2013|work=Slate|access-date=August 17, 2018|language=en-US|issn=1091-2339|archive-date=August 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817092804/http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/08/jonathan_franzen_s_the_corrections_and_oprah_winfrey_s_book_club.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

These events gained Franzen and his novel widespread media attention. ''The Corrections'' soon became one of the decade's best-selling works of literary fiction. At the National Book Award ceremony, Franzen said "I'd also like to thank Oprah Winfrey for her enthusiasm and advocacy on behalf of ''The Corrections''."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaacceptspeech_jfranzen.html|title=National Book Awards Acceptance Speeches: Jonathan Franzen|work=[[National Book Foundation]]|year=2001|access-date=April 4, 2007|archive-date=June 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614095239/http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaacceptspeech_jfranzen.html}}</ref>

Following the success of ''The Corrections'' and the publication of ''[[The Discomfort Zone]]'' and ''[[How to Be Alone (book)|How to Be Alone]]'', Franzen began work on his next novel. In the interim, he published two short stories in ''[[The New Yorker]]'': "Breakup Stories", published November 8, 2004, concerned the disintegration of four relationships; and "Two's Company", published May 23, 2005, concerned a couple who write for TV, then split up.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/bios/jonathan_franzen/search?contributorName=jonathan%20franzen&page=1&sort=publishDateSort%20desc,%20score%20desc&queryType=parsed|title=jonathan franzen: Contributors|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=March 15, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607083522/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/bios/jonathan_franzen/search?contributorName=jonathan%20franzen&page=1&sort=publishDateSort%20desc,%20score%20desc&queryType=parsed|archive-date=June 7, 2011}}</ref>

In 2011, it was announced that Franzen would write a multi-part television adaptation of ''The Corrections'' in collaboration with ''[[The Squid and the Whale]]'' director [[Noah Baumbach]] for HBO.<ref>{{cite news|first=Sean|last=O'Neal|url=https://www.avclub.com/noah-baumbach-developing-jonathan-franzens-the-correcti-1798227286|title=Noah Baumbach developing Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections as HBO series|work=A. V. Club|date=September 6, 2011|access-date=April 16, 2020|archive-date=September 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920195656/http://www.avclub.com/articles/noah-baumbach-developing-jonathan-franzens-the-cor,61383/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Lacey|last=Rose|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/noah-baumbach-take-jonathan-franzens-230893|title=Noah Baumbach to Take on Jonathan Franzen's 'The Corrections' for HBO|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=September 2, 2011|access-date=April 16, 2020|archive-date=August 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809180619/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/noah-baumbach-take-jonathan-franzens-230893|url-status=live}}</ref> HBO has since passed on ''Corrections'', citing "difficulty" in "adapting the book's challenging narrative, which moves through time and cuts forwards and back": that would be "difficult to sustain in a series and challenging for viewers to follow, hampering the potential show's accessibility."<ref>{{cite news|first=Nellie|last=Andreeva|url=https://deadline.com/2012/05/hbo-pilot-the-corrections-not-going-forward-265078/|title=HBO Drama Pilot 'The Corrections' Not Going Forward|work=Deadline|date=May 1, 2012|access-date=April 16, 2020|archive-date=February 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140215090229/http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/hbo-pilot-the-corrections-not-going-forward/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In September 2019, ''The Corrections'' was voted sixteenth in a list of the 100 best books of the twenty-first century so far by writers and critics of the ''Guardian'' newspaper.<ref name="Staff">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/21/best-books-of-the-21st-century|title=The 100 best books of the 21st century|author=Guardian Staff|date=September 21, 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=September 22, 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=December 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206135810/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/21/best-books-of-the-21st-century|url-status=live}}</ref>