Hip hip hooray!

A book is making news.  Not just any book, mind you, a work of fiction.  One that has nothing to do with muggles and magic wands and a boy named Harry.  It is commonplace these days for those involved in politics to create a stir with their books, frequently written by former insiders exposing secrets and buried truths.  But Jonathan Franzen’s new novel Freedom is having an impact that is all the more thrilling for being rare.  This is a nakedly adult novel, not one written primarily for children but that also captures adult imaginations (although I found that phenomenon exhilarating as well because young and old were excited about reading). Freedom is naturally making an enormous splash in the literary and publishing worlds, since Mr. Franzen is already a celebrated author.  But in the past few days, several Op-Ed columnists and other reporters have mentioned the novel in their columns.  Having not yet read it, I cannot comment on its merits or deficits.  But I can comment on the fact that it is being referenced in articles on matters political, social, and economic.  It is making its way into the national conversation.  That is cause for joy.  A huge, 500-plus page book is getting people talking!  For those of us out there who love books, who rue the fact that readers of complex, layered, challenging literature are becoming a rare breed in our fast-food culture, this is a development worthy of applause.