A Novel Is All the Rage Even Before It Is Sold

By Julie Bosman in The New York Times
Published: August 27, 2010

In two weeks, Jonathan Franzen has gone from great American novelist (says Time magazine) to literary darling whose work has received an unfair helping of critical praise (says a fellow novelist, Jodi Picoult) to the writer we love to hate (says Newsweek).

And his new book isn’t even out yet.

“Freedom” will arrive in bookstores on Tuesday, secure in its spot as one of the most anticipated novels of the year and practically destined for the best-seller lists. It comes with an armload of glowing reviews and bookseller buzz. President Obama, spending part of late August in Martha’s Vineyard, has a coveted early copy on his stack of vacation reads. (“He is reading it and finds it entertaining,” said Bill Burton, the deputy White House press secretary.)

Within this Franzenfrenzy there is the whiff of Franzenfury, or Franzenfreude, as the novelist Jennifer Weiner has called it. She and Ms. Picoult have recently unleashed a steady stream of Twitter jabs about Mr. Franzen and The New York Times, charging that female novelists are unjustly overlooked by critics.

Bosman's full article - NYT.

Footnote:
The Bookman is half way thought Freedom (advance copy) and I have to say it is a very special piece of writing. It has caught me - hook, line and sinker.