Farther Away: Essays

In this incisive collection of speeches and essays, Jonathan Franzen returns with renewed vigor to the themes, both human and literary, that have long preoccupied him. Whether recalling his violent encounter with bird poachers in Cyprus, examining his feelings about the suicide of his friend and rival David Foster Wallace, or offering a moving and witty take on the ways that technology has changed how people express their love, these pieces deliver on Franzen's implicit promise to conceal nothing. A remarkable and revelatory work from one of our greatest living novelists, Farther Away traces the progress of a unique and mature mind wrestling with itself, with literature, and with some of the most important issues of our day.

Jonathan Franzen is the author of four novels, a collection of essays (How to Be Alone), a personal history (The Discomfort Zone), and a translation of Frank Wedekind’s Spring Awakening. He lives in New York City and Santa Cruz, California.