'In a totally sane society, madness is the only freedom'

Freedom Paperback

Freedom

Jonathan Franzen

‘Deeper, funnier, sadder and truer than a work of fiction has any right to be’ Independent on Sunday

‘Both a page-turner and a work of art … an almost perfectly written novel’ Evening Standard

This is the story of the Berglunds, their son Joey, their daughter Jessica and their friend Richard Katz. It is about how we use and abuse our freedom; about the beginning and ending of love; teenage lust; the unexpectedness of adult life; why we compete with our friends; how we betray those closest to us; and why things almost never work out as they ‘should’. It is a story about the human heart, and what it leads us to do to ourselves and each other.

Reviews of Freedom

    • ‘Stupendous, magnificent, unforgettable, witty and rich. A great American novel is unmistakably what Freedom is’ Spectator
    • ‘A masterpiece. Franzen skewers the particularity of modern life and love like no one else. If you are free to live as you choose, he asks, who else can you blame when it goes wrong?’ Daily Telegraph
    • ‘Writing in prose that dazzles, Franzen has now written the two novels that best define modern America’ Independent on Sunday
    • ‘Extraordinary … it is first troubling, then addictive – and then, with mounting satisfaction, convinces you this is simply on a different plane from other contemporary fiction’ Guardian

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