Franzen media roadshow
Is anybody unaware that ?
Or that he was on the ; the first time a novelist has been covered on their cover for a decade?
Or that ?
His publicist has done very well. The hyperbole and chatter surrounding the - yet to be released - book is akin to the launch of a new Apple product.
It is rare in publishing for a literary author to receive so much coverage. Had his publishers known quite how much attention he was going to attract they might have thought about releasing the book at a different time.
Early autumn is a big season for the publishing industry; it's when they release a large swathe of their new titles; a period during which they hope a mixture of chilly, dark evenings, the and Christmas shopping will lead to sufficient sales to see them through what tends to be a lean January and February.
But the Jonathan Franzen media roadshow threatens to eclipse all other novelists with a new story to tell. Perhaps Fourth Estate should come to an agreement with future media outlets wishing to cover Franzen's Freedom, which stipulates that they must mention at least two other soon-to-be-published books (not necessarily Fourth Estate - more readers is good for them too).
I will:
(Faber & Faber published 2 September).
(Viking, published 7 October).
An arts journal by 
Comment number 1.
At 25th Aug 2010, ian-russell wrote:I've not read Franzen and now I feel I'll have to.
Coincidently, I've just put down DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little. I only got as far as page 50 or 60something when it struck me I should really heed Nick Hornby's sensible advice and not waste time reading books that bore me.
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Comment number 2.
At 25th Aug 2010, BluesBerry wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 3.
At 25th Aug 2010, BluesBerry wrote:Yes, I knew that Jonathan Franzen had a new book coming out in September, 2010.
Did you know that Producer Scott Rudin has already picked up the film rights to Jonathan Franzen's "Freedom"? How quick was that?
The story follows the slowly disintegrating relationship of Patty and Walter Berglund, described as "socially conscious college sweethearts who lose each other and their own moral compasses over the years to temptations both corporate and carnal".
Rudin hasn't hired writers or anything, but did land the picture deal just before the cover story on Franzen appeared in the latest issue of Time Magazine.
When was the last time a novelist appeared on Time?
Stephen King a decade ago.
Have you seen the cover to 鈥淔reedom鈥? Amazing!
Reflections in the water, the words (title) seeming to stretch through time, and then there鈥檚 that bird, that blue-bird whose eye looks out at us like a witness to our human, but natural turmoil.
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Comment number 4.
At 26th Aug 2010, John Self wrote:I'm reading FREEDOM now and finding it enjoyable but not outstanding, sort of like John Irving for grown-ups. The dialogue between parents and children is the best part, shades perhaps of Roth's American Pastoral (though Roth doesn't take nine years over his books).
The cover design referred to by BluesBerry above is the US one, and it looks as though it was designed on Microsoft WordArt. The UK one is not much better: a big block F with the author's name and title on the bars of the letter.
Still, the fact that I'm reading it at all is testament to the power of the hype Will talks about.
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