false 24920 22 <div><div>Jonathan Franzen arrived late, and last, in a family of boys in Webster Groves, Missouri. <i>The Discomfort Zone </i>is his intimate memoir of his growth from a "small and fundamentally ridiculous person," through an adolescence both excruciating and strangely happy, into an adult with embarrassing and unexpected passions. It&#8217;s also a portrait of a middle-class family weathering the turbulence of the 1970s, and a vivid personal history of the decades in which America turned away from its midcentury idealism and became a more polarized society.<div> </div></div><div>The story Franzen tells here draws on elements as varied as the explosive dynamics of a Christian youth fellowship in the 1970s, the effects of Kafka&#8217;s fiction on his protracted quest to lose his virginity, the elaborate pranks that he and his friends orchestrated from the roof of his high school, his self-inflicted travails in selling his mother&#8217;s house after her death, and the web of connections between his all-consuming marriage, the problem of global warming, and the life lessons to be learned in watching birds.</div><div> </div><div>These chapters of a Midwestern youth and a New York adulthood are warmed by the same combination of comic scrutiny and unqualified affection that characterize Franzen&#8217;s fiction, but here the main character is the author himself. Sparkling, daring, arrestingly honest, <i>The Discomfort Zone </i>narrates the formation of a unique mind and heart in the crucible of an everyday American family.</div></div> 1373 book 5 9 2006 The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History total:934|5:94|4:315|3:359|2:142|1:24| 934 3115 1364 185 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 4 1 false Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Jun 27 06:10:41 -0700 2007 Sat Feb 09 07:42:55 -0800 2008 A Mixed Bag
I believe Jonathan Franzen fans will be both delighted and disappointed with this collection, The Discomfort Zone. It starts out very strong, showing off Franzen's remarkable vocabulary, storytelling ability, and his disregard for political-correctness. In a piece called, "Hous...more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 2 1 false Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sun Sep 09 19:00:59 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 09 19:01:10 -0700 2007 more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 0 0 false Thu Feb 05 09:49:36 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:49:36 -0800 2009 Jonathan Franzen, the National Book Award?winning author of The Corrections (and, infamously, the only writer to refuse initiation into Oprah Winfrey's book club), leaves few readers ambivalent about his work, be it through his seriocomic attitude toward life's uncomfortable moments or the difficult...

more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 5 1 false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 14 16:59:00 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 14 17:35:52 -0700 2008 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 4 0 false Fri Aug 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 08 20:18:40 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 16:35:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 3 0 false Sat Feb 03 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Jan 15 13:48:20 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 12:56:51 -0800 2009 1
“...I had a nightmare about the Averys’ sweet-...more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 2 0 false Tue Sep 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 02:03:12 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 02:24:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 4 0 false Sun Aug 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 06:43:11 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 06:43:11 -0700 2009 more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 5 0 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 21:11:22 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 21:17:15 -0800 2009 Doctor Zhivago four? No, it does not. But I don't care: unlike Doctor Zhivago, this book exceeded my expectations, and made me both wince and grin because of how resonant it is. In the first essay, he describes himself on a family vacation at the age of f...more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 5 0 false Mon Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 29 19:08:07 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 07 20:07:38 -0700 2008 more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 3 0 false Sat Jun 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 15 23:43:18 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 16 00:01:42 -0700 2008 How to Be Alone, so I was excited to read this as well. Also, because I think The Corrections is one of the best novels out there, I've been looking for more details about the author, to see how his experiences turned him into the author that he is.

...more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 3 0 false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Apr 08 13:09:55 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 08 13:24:59 -0700 2008 Involuntary Genius at home and listening to Franzen's Discomfort Zone at work. There isn't a doubt in my mind that Codrescu has lead the better life. It kills me that it's Franzen I can relate to. Why, why, why does my heart sink into my stomach when I'm fa...more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 3 0 false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 13 19:05:03 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 13 19:12:03 -0800 2008 more...]]> 903122 0312426402 9780312426408 41 8 3.34 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/903122.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 3 0 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 09 14:15:41 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 14 14:39:35 -0800 2008
Franzen is brave in revealing some general, painful unlikeability, particularly as a teenage...more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 4 0 false Fri Dec 28 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 21 22:14:56 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 30 21:10:53 -0800 2007 more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 3 0 false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Dec 06 05:19:07 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 06 05:20:40 -0800 2007 Strong Motion along with a book of essays How To Be Alone. Mr. Franzen’s books are rich with truth, his truth. In The Discomfort Zone the reade...more...]]> 903122 0312426402 9780312426408 41 8 3.34 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/903122.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 3 0 false Fri Nov 09 09:59:37 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 09 10:01:51 -0800 2007 The Discomfort Zone is a rather unmemorable collection of personal essays dealing with and recalling, among other things, his relationship with his parents, adolescence, birding, and Snoopy, and is much less focused than his p...more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 4 0 false Mon Nov 05 14:36:32 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 06 08:42:27 -0800 2007
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I felt guilty ...more...]]> 1241584 0007234252 9780007234257 13 2 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1182189866m/1241584.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1241584.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 4 0 false Tue Jul 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 20 11:54:22 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 08 11:53:59 -0700 2008 more...]]> 24920 0374299196 9780374299194 837 167 3.34 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544643m/24920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920.The_Discomfort_Zone_A_Personal_History 3 0 false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 17 13:16:18 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 31 12:40:50 -0700 2007 The Corrections and How to Be Alone, which is why I was initially hesitant about Franzen following up with a memoir. It felt like Tiger Woods following up the Masters with pickup games at a Par 30. By which I mean, there's no question Franzen's a master wordsmith--so when he delibe...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=6369529