Contemporary literature

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 perfe...