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Liked It “Excellent read I enjoyed every essay in the book” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “I had high hopes that were not met. [sigh]” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“"How to be Alone" is a random collection of essays by Jonathan Franzen. Franzen insists in the introduction that the essays are tied together by a theme, but I think that is stretching things quite a bit. Franzen takes on subjects ranging from the social to the deeply personal, tackling the reasons for reading and writing, the federal penal system, his father's Alzheimer's battle, and more. Some of the essays sparkle such as "The Reader in Exile", "Why Bother" on the "social novel" and its current state, and "Books in Bed" on erotic writing. Others essays are mediocre, but still contain worthwhile bits.”
Alex D wrote this review Wednesday, September 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“it was ok. I didnt hate it but didnt like it entirely either. ”
Ameena H wrote this review Wednesday, July 8 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I had high hopes that were not met. [sigh]”
jtck wrote this review Tuesday, March 24 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“More stories from Franzen. Enjoyed this a lot. Where is the next novel?”
Steve T wrote this review Monday, November 17 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 1 members found this review helpful“Jonathan Franzen’s collection of essays, How to Be Alone, was written between 1994 and 2001 and is classified as “literary criticism and collections”. Though a few are about literature, most of the fourteen essays are just that: (unimpressive) essays. For example, in “Lost in the Mail” Franzen discusses how bad the U.S. Postal Service is for Chicago’s neighborhoods from 1991 to 1994. Interested in his “survey of contemporary popular sex books”? Read his essay “Books in Bed” for his uncomfortable account of reading sex books. Franzen attempts to close that essay by discussing Nick Hornby’s lack of descriptive sex scenes in High Fidelity.
Molly (Restless Reader) wrote this review Saturday, September 6 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Full review on my blog: http://restlessreader.com/?p=685”
“I like Franzen, but found this collection of stories a disappointing, disjointed collection of cast offs. ”
Trey H wrote this review Monday, August 25 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Excellent read I enjoyed every essay in the book”
Morrigan F wrote this review Friday, June 13 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Stunningly erudite and pretentious, Franzen's essay collection is both a joy to read (some of his arguments are so well-thought-out, so amazingly developed, that you want to shake his hand for simply voicing an idea that you've thought about for so long), and an unbelievable embarrassment in being un-self-aware. Let me explain.
nholic wrote this review Sunday, May 11 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
While I thought that Franzen sometimes reached moments of great insight in his personal essays, I couldn't help feeling that he wanted to prove something in the writing of this book. He wanted to prove that he hated TV (yet he wasn't quite able to admit that he loved it), he wanted to prove that he detested talk shows (yet he wasn't able to explain why he decided to appear on them, to begin with). In short, he was smarmy and mean-spirited in most of these essays, even while writing beautifully and making valid points. He didn't seem able to appreciate a life spent outside of academic thought, and he didn't even seem aware that he was so mean-spirited. He'll gloss over a moment in a narrative that would have truly illuminated something we want to know about: the Oprah essay, for example, was so full of holes, yet so controlled....Franzen purposefully navigated around any areas in his story that might have revealed him to be less scholarly, less serious, than we are supposed to imagine him.
"How to Be Alone" is a collection that I would highly recommend, as each of the essays is well-constructed and thoughtful and (perhaps) a welcome challenge to conventional thinking, but at the same time, you'll form a picture of an unhappy writer no better than the stereotype of "unhappy writer," a man who hates those who do not share his ideas and lifestyle.”
“Good writing; a collection of non-fiction essays. See my post at http://ben.casnocha.com/2006/01/book_review_how.html”
bencasnocha wrote this review Monday, February 4 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
