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Crossroads: A Novel Audiobook
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"Narrator David Pittu superbly transports the listener into the lives of the Hildebrandts, a family with many secrets." - AudioFile Magazine
This program includes a bonus conversation between the author, Jonathan Franzen, and the narrator, David Pittu.
Jonathan Franzen’s gift for wedding depth and vividness of character with breadth of social vision has never been more dazzlingly evident than in Crossroads.
It’s December 23, 1971, and heavy weather is forecast for Chicago. Russ Hildebrandt, the associate pastor of a liberal suburban church, is on the brink of breaking free of a marriage he finds joyless—unless his wife, Marion, who has her own secret life, beats him to it. Their eldest child, Clem, is coming home from college on fire with moral absolutism, having taken an action that will shatter his father. Clem’s sister, Becky, long the social queen of her high-school class, has sharply veered into the counterculture, while their brilliant younger brother Perry, who’s been selling drugs to seventh graders, has resolved to be a better person. Each of the Hildebrandts seeks a freedom that each of the others threatens to complicate.
Jonathan Franzen’s novels are celebrated for their unforgettably vivid characters and for their keen-eyed take on contemporary America. Now, in Crossroads, Franzen ventures back into the past and explores the history of two generations. With characteristic humor and complexity, and with even greater warmth, he conjures a world that resonates powerfully with our own.
A tour de force of interwoven perspectives and sustained suspense, its action largely unfolding on a single winter day, Crossroads is the story of a Midwestern family at a pivotal moment of moral crisis. Jonathan Franzen’s gift for melding the small picture and the big picture has never been more dazzlingly evident.
A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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“Their internal battles…are set against the backdrop of an era in which ‘love’ is everywhere but empathy is in short supply, where hugs are liberally dispensed but real connection’s harder to come by…Amusing, excruciating, and at times unexpectedly uplifting?in a word, exquisite.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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“A mellow, marzipan-hued ’70s-era heartbreaker….[with] several tour-de-force scenes.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“A magnificent portrait of an American family on the brink of implosion.”
— Vogue -
"Superb…The characters in Crossroads are held up to the light like complexly cut gems and turned to reveal facet after facet.”
— Slate -
“[Franzen] pays homage to great nineteenth century social realists, from George Eliot to Balzac to Dickens, while gazing unflinchingly to the ills that shape us today.”
— Oprah Daily -
“A sweeping and masterly examination of the shifting culture of early 1970s America, the first in a trilogy…Throughout, Franzen exhibits his remarkable ability to build suspense through fraught interpersonal dynamics. It’s irresistible."
— Publishers Weekly (starred review) -
“Their internal battles…are set against the backdrop of an era in which ‘love’ is everywhere but empathy is in short supply, where hugs are liberally dispensed but real connection’s harder to come by…Amusing, excruciating, and at times unexpectedly uplifting―in a word, exquisite.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Awards
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A New York Times bestseller
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A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
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A Time Magazine Best Book of 2021
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A USA Today Best Book of 2021
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A Washington Post Best Book of the Year
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A St. Louis Post-Dispatch Best Book of 2021
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A Newsweek Best Book of the Year
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A Telegraph (London) Best Books Pick
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A Vogue Best Book of 2021
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A Good Housekeeping Best Book of the Year
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A London Financial Times Best Book of the Year
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An Oprah Pick of 2021's Best Books
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A Town & Country Magazine Pick of Best Books of 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Los Angeles Times Holiday Books Guide, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for NPR Best Book of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Washington Post Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among shortlisted titles for California Book Awards Master List, 2022
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Among longlisted titles for New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Time Magazine Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Hudson Booksellers Best of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Financial Times Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for The Guardian (UK) Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Amazon.com Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for USA Today Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Oprah.com Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Minneapolis Star Tribune Holiday Book Recommendations, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Seattle Times Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Slate Book Review Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Vogue Magazine Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Los Angeles Times Holiday Books Guide, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for NPR Best Book of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Washington Post Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among shortlisted titles for California Book Awards Master List, 2022
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Among longlisted titles for Slate Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Time Magazine Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Hudson Booksellers Best of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award - Nominee, 2023
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Among longlisted titles for Los Angeles Times Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Financial Times Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for The Guardian (UK) Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Amazon.com Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for USA Today Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Oprah.com Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Minneapolis Star Tribune Holiday Book Recommendations, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Seattle Times Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Slate Book Review Best Books of the Year, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Vogue Magazine Best Books of the Year, 2021
Crossroads Listener Reviews
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About Jonathan Franzen
Jonathan Franzen is the author of five novels, including four New York Times bestsellers, and seven works of nonfiction. The Corrections won the National Book Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the German Akademie der Kunste, and the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
About David Pittu
David Pittu, a two-time Tony Award nominee, has narrated dozens of audiobooks, including Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, which earned two prestigious Audie Awards for best narration. He has also won three Earphones Awards. Well-known for his work in theater, he has appeared off-Broadway in LoveMusik and Is He Dead, for which he received his Tony nominations, as well as Parade, for which he earned a National Broadway Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He is also a writer, member, and director of the Atlantic Theater company.