When I picked up The Corrections, I was guided by the New York Times, which placed it among the one hundred most important books of the twenty-first century: number five on the list. Such a distinction sets expectations high, and Franzen’s novel, in many respects, meets them. At its heart, The Corrections tells the story of the Lambert family: Enid and Alfred, an aging Midwestern couple, and their three adult children, Gary, Chip, and Denise. Enid dreams of gathering everyone for one last per...
David Nicholls’ "Us" follows the story of Douglas Petersen, a middle-aged biochemist whose comfortable, if somewhat dull, life is thrown into crisis when his wife, Connie, announces that she is considering leaving him after their only son departs for university. In a desperate attempt to save both his marriage and his relationship with his teenage son, Douglas organizes a “Grand Tour” of Europe for the three of them. What begins as a cultural family trip quickly turns into an emotional journe...
Our Evenings follows Dave Win, a mixed-race boy from a modest family who earns a scholarship to a prestigious public school, where he first crosses paths with Edward, a charming young man from a wealthy, aristocratic background. Their lives become intertwined from adolescence onward. Though Dave later fails to complete his degree at Oxford, he eventually finds fame as an actor, celebrated on stage and screen. His ethnic background subtly shapes his sense of being an outsider, even within Lond...
