An evening with Jonathan Franzen

The Americans may not have won in their first year of being eligible for the Man Booker prize, but industry insiders have told us that it might be an altogether different story with the release of Jonathan Franzen’s ‘multigenerational American epic’, Purity this autumn.

New book by Jonathan Franzen

To mark its publication, Franzen is making a rare London appearance and will be talking about the book, his life and career at the Royal Geographical Society. 

Jonathan Franzen: best books and literary prizes

Franzen is the author of five previous novels, including the 2001 bestseller The Corrections that sold millions of copies and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as the winner of the National Book Award.

In 2010 his novel Freedom stormed the bestseller charts and was described by The New York Times as a ‘masterpiece’. It was the book that President Obama took on holiday.

Jonathan Franzen: purity

Franzen’s new book is a decade and continent-spanning epic that follows a young woman, Purity Tyler, looking for her father across America (Northern and Southern) and Eastern Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall. As she is drawn into her family’s secrets she crosses paths with an out-law - and hero - an internet hacker.

Purity is said to be a ‘stylistic departure’ for Franzen. Speaking to the New York Times, he said: ‘There’s a kind of fabulist quality to it. It’s not strict realism. There's a kind of mythic undertone to the story.’

With only a little while until the Man Booker prize finalists are announced, it maybe advisable to book your tickets fast.