Jonathan Franzen felt a sense of relief when HBO scrapped plans to adapt his bestselling novel The Corrections in 2012. He celebrated by performing a cartwheel on his front lawn in Santa Cruz, California. Franzen had been involved in an earlier failed adaptation, which he attributed to the difficulty of condensing the complexities of his novel into a feature-length film. This time, he was co-writing with filmmaker Noah Baumbach but felt they lacked TV development experience. Without a television until a few years prior, Franzen found himself learning the ropes by renting box sets. Realizing they were struggling with the medium, he described their product as potentially “one of the worst pilots anyone has ever made.”
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Franzen historically viewed television as the “enemy” of serious literature. In a 1996 Harper’s Magazine essay, he critiqued television’s rise against high literature. After the HBO series fell through, he found enjoyment in shows like Breaking Bad, Nurse Jackie, and Silicon Valley, leading him to reconsider this stance. Now, The Corrections is being adapted into an eight-part Netflix series, with Meryl Streep cast as Enid Lambert, who is striving to create a perfect last family Christmas while dealing with her husband's decline and her children's struggles. Franzen felt more optimistic about the project once Streep joined the cast and aims to finish the script soon.
During our meeting at his Santa Cruz home, Franzen, 67, appeared tall with a boyish charm despite his white hair. He often edited his own speech, reflecting his desire for precision in communication. The Corrections, published shortly before 9/11, won the 2001 National Book Award for Fiction and has remained one of the most significant works of literary fiction in recent decades. Drawing on his upbringing in an affluent St. Louis suburb, the novel mirrors his experiences with family dynamics, including his father’s battle with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s and his mother’s personality traits represented through the character Enid.
Franzen credits the complexity of his characters to the profound nature of his parents, who shaped not only his writing but his understanding of character psychology. He expressed sadness over the loss of his parents, recognizing their influence on his ability to write authentically about family.
Franzen originally pursued a science degree at university, later switching to German literature—an area his parents deemed serious. After graduating from Swarthmore College in 1981, he received a Fulbright scholarship to Berlin, with his first novel, The Twenty-Seventh City, published six years later.
Describing The Corrections as an “angry comedy,” Franzen acknowledged his longstanding reputation for anger. Reflecting on this, he admitted that years of personal circumstances contributed to his feelings of frustration, including a marriage that lasted 14 years but should have ended after two. Despite his past, he feels he has moved past that anger since the publication of the novel.
Franzen’s public image took a hit after a controversial interaction with Oprah Winfrey when she picked The Corrections for her book club but later rescinded her invitation due to his comments. They reconciled years later when she selected his book Freedom for her club again. He expressed his ongoing struggle with how his words may be perceived and acknowledged past mistakes in interviews.
After achieving significant popularity through critical acclaim and media attention, Franzen has come to terms with the complexities of being labeled a “great American novelist,” noting that the expression often carries a mocking undertone. He reflected on his frustrations during the 1990s related to a perceived decline in readers for his type of literature, noting that some of his complaints may have been overblown.
Franzen has also engaged with contemporary issues, particularly in the environmental arena. He has critiqued mainstream narratives around climate change and emphasized the importance of local initiatives, navigating pushback from organizations and activists along the way.
He has a passion for birdwatching, sparked after The Corrections was published, and enjoys this hobby through trips as well as from his home. Franzen shares his life with partner Kathryn Chetkovich and plays guitar privately, having formed a band with her family that he has yet to showcase publicly.
Most recently, he published a short story in the New Yorker that will be part of his next novel, a sequel to Crossroads, which was released in 2021. Franzen described his writing process as demanding significant time and transformation, often requiring him to evolve personally to fully capture the essence of his characters. He prioritizes honesty over moral imperatives in his creative work, seeking to express deep truths through his narratives, rather than focusing on self-improvement or moral outcomes.