How Jonathan Franzen works

I finally read the Time cover story on Jonathan Franzen. I may be the only person left in the Western world who hasn't read The Corrections (though it's on my list), but the part that stood out for me was a small picture of his spartan desk and a description of his workspace:

"Franzen works in a rented office that he has stripped of all distractions. He uses a heavy, obsolete Dell laptop from which he was scoured any trace of hearts and solitaire, down to the level of the operating system...