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The Corrections: A Novel Audiobook
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(3.15) - 26 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The Corrections is a grandly entertaining novel for the new century—a comic, tragic masterpiece about a family breaking down in an age of easy fixes. After almost fifty years as a wife and mother, Enid Lambert is ready to have some fun. Unfortunately, her husband, Alfred, is losing his sanity to Parkinson's disease, and their children have long since flown the family nest to the catastrophes of their own lives. The oldest, Gary, a once-stable portfolio manager and family man, is trying to convince his wife and himself, despite clear signs to the contrary, that he is not clinically depressed. The middle child, Chip, has lost his seemingly secure academic job and is failing spectacularly at his new line of work. And Denise, the youngest, has escaped a disastrous marriage only to pour her youth and beauty down the drain on an affair with a married man—or so her mother fears. Desperate for some pleasure to look forward to. Enid has set her heart on an elusive goal: bringing her family together for one last Christmas at home.
Stretching from the Midwest at midcentury to the Wall Street and Eastern Europe of today, The Corrections brings an old-fashioned world of civic virtue and sexual inhibitions into violent collision with the era of home surveillance, hands-off parenting, do-it-yourself mental health care, and globalized greed. Richly realistic, darkly hilarious, deeply humane, it confirms Jonathan Franzen as one of our most brilliant interpreters of American society and the American soul.
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"With Franzen what you get is that line by line, minute by minute intricately crafted writing. You can feel the effort that has gone in to capturing the exact feel of every moment, sweating off the thing. A glorious walk through the foibles and dented psyche of the American middle class. I've recently listened to Revolutionary Road- the 50s, Bonfire of the Vanities- the 80s and now this. They all delve deep into this strange, strained, phenomenon of interest "
— Charles Miller (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“The brightest, boldest, and most ambitious novel I've read in many years.”
— Pat Conroy #1 New York Times bestselling author of South of Broad -
“Funny and deeply sad, large-hearted and merciless, The Corrections is a testament to the range and depth of pleasures great fiction affords.”
— David Foster Wallace -
“Jonathan Franzen has built a powerful novel out of the swarming consciousness of a marriage, a family, a whole culture—our culture.”
— Don DeLillo author of Lybra and Falling Man -
“Marvelous…Everything we want in a novel--except, when it's rocking along, for it never to be over.”
— New York Times Review of Books -
“A sprawling novel about the diaspora of the modern American family: Enid and Alfred have carved their lives out of the suburban Midwest bedrock—hard work, shrimp cocktail, and silent sex—but their children live in New York and Philadelphia, eat wild Norwegian salmon, experiment with bisexuality, and study Foucault. Franzen gives us a tragicomic portrait of a flawed nation with the equally flawed notion of perfectibility at its heart.”
— New Yorker -
“The novel we've been waiting for...a stunning anatomy of family dysfunction...a contemporary novel that will endure.”
— Esquire -
“Ferociously detailed, gratifyingly mind-expanding, and daringly complex and unhurried…Each cleverly choreographed fiasco stands as a correction to the delusions that precipitated it, and each step back from the brink of catastrophe becomes a move toward hope, integrity, and love. ”
— Booklist -
“Looms as a model for what ambitious storytelling can still say about modern life…Franzen swings for the fences and clears them with yards to spare.”
— San Francisco Chronicle -
“Frighteningly, luminously authentic.”
— Boston Globe
Awards
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Winner of the 2001 National Book Award for Fiction
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A 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award Finalist
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A 2002 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Fiction
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A New York Times bestseller
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A 2001 Time Magazine Top 10 Book for Fiction
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Time Magazine's Best 100 English-Language Novels from 1923–2005
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A 2001 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Fiction
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A 2001 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist for Fiction
The Corrections Listener Reviews
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Frank, 9/27/2019
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" The story could have been told in less than 500 pages, but still a good read. "
— Jenn, 5/24/2011 -
" Very well written, but I found it dark and somewhat sad. "
— Pamela, 5/23/2011 -
" A friend recommended this book and I found I liked the story and the characters more as I got into it. "
— Marge, 5/23/2011 -
" Very readable, but tediously long. This is the first Franzen I've read, and I'm not inclined to continue. "
— Caro, 5/22/2011 -
" There were times I didn't think I could persevere with this...It's an insightful entwining of some meaty character studies that takes in a few decades - so you need commitment. The ending made it all worthwhile though - a real payoff and I will admit, I had a tear in my eye! "
— Mira, 5/22/2011 -
" I was looking forward to reading this book, with all the hype about it. I sure did not love it as much as Oprah. For me, it was boring and long. "
— Cynthia, 5/21/2011 -
" Why: I was going to download this from the library onto my new Nook and after multiple aggravating attempts I realized I was downloading an audio version. So I bought it, which of course I should have just done in the 1st place.<br/>Review: No complaints "
— Polly, 5/21/2011 -
" Interesting post modern take on the American Dream. "
— Alex, 5/21/2011 -
" At times the book gets a little preachy, but otherwise I liked it. The different voices/styles that it shifts to keep things fresh and interesting, and in general it's just undeniably well-written (having read some real crap lately, this was a most welcome thing). "
— Thomas, 5/21/2011 -
" I loved THE CORRECTIONS, but I don't understand what all the hoopla over this book. I read a 100 pages and just couldn't fight the boredom any more. "
— Lee, 5/21/2011 -
" Enjoyed this for the most part, but my BookClub bailed on it halfway through. Patty was too much for them. "
— Julie, 5/20/2011 -
" hated this book, only read 3 chapters. UGH. "
— Tony, 5/19/2011
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 George Guidall
George Guidall, winner of more than eighty AudioFile Earphones Awards, has won three of the prestigious Audie Award for Excellence in Audiobook Narration. In 2014 the Audio Publishers Association presented him with the Special Achievement Award for lifetime achievement/ During his thirty-year recording career he has recorded over 1,700 audiobooks, won multiple awards, been a mentor to many narrators, and shown by example the potential of fine storytelling. His forty-year acting career includes starring roles on Broadway, an Obie Award for best performance off Broadway, and frequent television appearances.