Franzen paints a panoramic vision of America at the beginning of the 21st century, seen through the turbulent lives of the Lambert family. At once a moving family drama and a dissection of American society in an age of greed and globalism, 'The Corrections' emerges as a truly great American novel.
The Lamberts - Enid and Alfred and their three grown-up children - are a troubled family living in a troubled age. Alfred is ill and as his condition worsens the whole family must face the failures, secrets and long-buried hurts that haunt them if they are to make the corrections that each desperately needs.
Stretching from the Midwest in the mid-century to Wall Street and Eastern Europe in the age of globalised greed, 'The Corrections' brings an old-time America of freight trains and civic duty into wild collision with the era of home surveillance, hands-off parenting, do-it-yourself mental healthcare, and New Economy millionaires. It announces Jonathan Franzen as one of the most brilliant interpreters of American society and the American soul.
Winner of the 2001 National Book Award for Fiction.
