The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (BOOK CLUB January 2025)

#5 on the NYT Best Books of the Century is also steeped in controversy

It’s time for a new year of Secret Stuff Book Club! This year, we’re kicking things off with The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. This 2001 book was #5 on the New York Times Best Books of the Century list that was posted, and it’s not without lots of controversy. The story revolves around the troubles of an elderly Midwestern couple and their three adult children, tracing their lives from the mid-20th century to "one last Christmas" together near the turn of the millennium. 

 

The Corrections was published on September 4, 2001, one week before the September 11th terrorist attacks. It was met with largely positive reviews and would go on to receive the 2001 National Book Award for Fiction and the 2002 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize, was nominated for the 2001 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and the 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award, and was shortlisted for the 2003 International Dublin Literary Award. It spent approximately 50 weeks (basically a whole year!) on the New York Times Best Seller list. Over time it continued to be recognized as one of the best books of the century. In 2005, The Corrections was included in TIMEmagazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels since 1923. In 2006, Bret Easton Ellis declared the novel "one of the three great books of my generation." In 2009, the website The Millions polled 48 writers, critics, and editors; the panel voted The Corrections the best novel since 2000 "by a landslide."

 

However, it was not without controversy. In September of 2001 Oprah Winfrey picked The Corrections as her book club pick for that month. At the time, authors of Oprah’s book club picks would be invited to a televised book club dinner to discuss and promote their books. After The Corrections was chosen, Franzen publicly expressed discomfort with this pick, saying that Winfrey had "picked some good books, but she's picked enough schmaltzy, one-dimensional ones that I cringe, myself, even though I think she's really smart and she's really fighting the good fight." Franzen added that his novel was a "hard book for that audience." Winfrey withdrew her invitation, stating, “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.” Franzen was the first author ever to be disinvited from Oprah’s show. Franzen found himself immersed in a sea of bad publicity as other authors criticized him as elitist and judgmental. Oprah did, however, seem to move on from the debacle by 2010 when she chose Franzen’s novel Freedom for her book club. She said that after she read a copy of the book Franzen had sent her with a note, she called the author and gained his permission. Oprah said, "We have a little history, this author and I," but called the book "a masterpiece," and according to an article in the Los Angeles Times, she "seems to have forgiven the bestselling author after their 2001 kerfuffle."

 

Franzen himself has a history of other controversies, including a hashtag movement (#franzenfrued) and some problematic, misogynistic, and racist statements made while on publicity rounds for his books. He is at times hailed as an absolute genius and also an unlikeable crank. But like all public figures, his popularity rises and falls and rises again. This Vox article details it all well.

 

Though many have tried, The Corrections has yet to see a film or television adaptation come to fruition. In August 2001, producer Scott Rudin optioned the film rights to The Corrections for Paramount Pictures. The rights still have not yet been turned into a completed film, though over the years rumored cast members included Judi Dench, Brad Pitt, Tim Robbins, and Naomi Watts. In September 2011, it was announced that Rudin and the screenwriter and director Noah Baumbach were preparing The Corrections as a "drama series project" to potentially co-star Anthony Hopkins and air on HBO. Baumbach and Franzen collaborated on the screenplay, which Baumbach would direct. In 2011, it was reported that Chris Cooper and Dianne Wiest would star in the HBO adaptation. In November 2011, it was confirmed that Ewan McGregor had joined the cast. In a March 7, 2012, interview, McGregor confirmed that work on the film was "about a week" in and noted that both Dianne Wiest and Maggie Gyllenhaal were among the cast members. But on May 1, 2012, HBO decided not to pick up the pilot for a full series.

 

We will be reading the full edition of The Corrections (not the abridged version), which clocks in at a whopping 576 pages. The Corrections has an average 3.84-star rating on Goodreads with 189,738 ratings and 12,029 reviews. This feels like the perfect book to tackle in January: slightly challenging, literary, but with a bit of family drama to keep it interesting. It’s been on my list for a long time, and so I’m excited to dive in.

 

We will be meeting on Wednesday, January 29, at 6 pm PT/9 pm ET to discuss this book! Zoom links and reminders will be forthcoming!

Happy January Reading!

Colleen (and Laura)

Further reading/watching:

Jonathan Franzen: Reflections on Oprah (YouTube)

Jonathan Franzen Reads from The Corrections (YouTube)

Franzen discusses The Corrections with James Naughtie and a group of readers at the British Library in London. (BBC Book Club podcast)

Conversation on the Mr. Difficult podcast with novelist Emily Gould about The Corrections (mrdifficult.com)

Good Scribes only podcast episode about The Corrections (Good Scribes Only)