JONATHAN FRANZEN
HOW TO BE ALONE
ESSAYS
Fourth Estate An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by Fourth Estate in 2002
Copyright ©Jonathan Franzen 2002
Jonathan Franzen asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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Source ISBN: 9780007153589
Ebook Edition © OCTOBER 2012 ISBN: 9780007389063 Version: 2017-06-09
From the reviews of How to Be Alone:
‘Stunning … Each page is studded with irresistible writing which leaves you breathless for more. Franzen’s strength is his ability to combine a rigorous intellectual approach with an upbeat energy, using language which touches the heart as surely as the head’
Time Out
‘How to Be Alone reveals [Franzen] to be an impressively versatile non-fiction writer, equally sure of touch and tone whether reporting on the US prison system, reviewing sex self-help books, or joining the debates about privacy and smoking with a rare acuity and sanity’
Guardian
‘Franzen possesses an incredibly strong narrative voice – his tone is packed with confidence, exuberance and energy … In its ambition, its intellectual vigour and its knowledge, [How to Be Alone] more than justifies its place on any bookshelf … At his best, [Franzen] is nothing less than mesmerising’
Sunday Business Post
‘Full of quips and aphorisms, [Franzen] is the Montaigne of our times, both inventively comic and deadly serious … Beguiling … You love him for his scrupulous honesty and for his arresting originality’
Harpers & Queen
‘Franzen’s almost casual brilliance with language can leave you giddy with the thrill’
Irish Times
‘An engrossing read where the combination of plot with technical detail is exquisite … ideal for anyone who enjoys intelligent writing’
Herald, Glasgow
‘Much thought and craft has gone into these essays … [Franzen’s] writing is an antidote in itself to the gloom it so eloquently describes’
Sunday Telegraph
FOR KATHY CHETKOVICH
Contents
INAUGURATION DAY, JANUARY 2001
MY THIRD NOVEL, The Corrections, which I’d worked on for many years, was published a week