The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History Audiobook

" I love me some Franzen. These are broken into small digestible little essays chronicling his awkward youth into his awkward adulthood. He tries hard to sound self-deprecating but it sometimes belies a cooler-than-thou attitude (if you've read any recent memoirish stuff, or any blog, or hung around any of the irony lovers of our generation, you probably know what I mean.) "

" I enjoyed the novel "The Corrections" by this author so was interested to know more about his life as described in this memoir. It was both humourous and interesting ranging from descriptions of high school pranks to serious discussions of Rilke, Mann and Kafka. He also talks about his experiences as a birder and one gets the impression of a clever man with many interests, but perhaps somewhat self centered. "

" This is Franzen's autobiography/memoir. The book is framed around the death of his mother. He writes about his nerdy youth and adolescence, his relationship with his family, his influences, love & divorce etc... Reading this book mostly reminded of what a shitty process growing up is, especially the horrors of junior high school. "

" I listened to this on tape during a road trip and found it engaging -- sometimes a little too close to home. I kept exchanging it for pop music, to get a break from Franzen's drill-down style of getting every single excruciating detail about events and relationships that are awkward, if not downright squirmy-to-painful. He is able to capture elusive stuff that rings so true when he brings it into focus. I do recommend it, in small doses. "

" An interesting insight into the mind of Franzen as he details some of the events of his youth and development. Best parts were his antics during high school, but some portions were a bit too weighty, especially the last third, and I didn't like much his portrayal of others. Sadly, he does not really seem to have any affection for his parents. "

" This book is deeply, fundamentally melancholy, heartbreaking, and vulnerable. But a lot of the other reviews call it sad and I don't think that fits. "

" WOW i love this guy's ability to bring common everyday minutiae interesting.....such a gifted man. He clears out his mom's house to sell it and you are gripped....WHat a great narrative device to discover about his family... "

" Enjoyed the dry acerbic tone. It's not a chronological memoir of his life - but chapters on aspects of his life - his childhood memories of Christian camps, being a teenager, his university experience, relationship with his parents and his amusing 'affair with birds' of the feathered sort. "

" Took me right back to high school - a lovely memoir "

" Franzen's memoir pulled me in right away and I enjoyed the mix of personal narrative and essay/op ed that most of these pieces featured. I've always avoided his novel, The Corrections, because of conflicting reviews I've read, but I may have to pick it up now. We'll see. :) "

" It's nice to hear about his various romantic entanglements, plus it reminds you: he's an actual person. One of the rare laugh out lou funny franzen works. "

" These essays are weaker than others of his I've read. "

" Interesting essays about the author's life from childhood to the present. "

" I read this right around the same time I read Elsewhere by Richard Russo. I'm glad these authors are both such good writers of fiction...because both their memoirs were awfully boring. I didn't really get a sense that either author's upbringing inspired their fiction. "

" I am currently not finished reading this book, but from what I have read, I do not like. It has no point or meaning and drones on and on about subject matter that does not fit into the supposed story line. "

" A lot more fun than I thought it would be. "

" If you are not a true Franzen fan, you would be bored by a lot of this book, but being a fan myself, I really enjoyed his observations about our (tail-end baby boomers) generation. "

" blach. Like someone trying to clean the floor swept up little piles around the room and never finished the job. "

" Well written but his life was not that exciting. Perhaps that was the purpose - the sameness and conformity of the Midwest. "

" Jonathan Franzen gives a short account of an uncomfortable adolescence (like all children going through puberty). It's an account of school, church groups, social interaction and being much too awkward for sex. <br/> <br/>It was one of those painfully true stories (but not true to my own life). "

" Zipped thru on a Sunday. I will be ready to read Freedom in about six months.<br/>The last part is about bird watching - my hobby. "

" Mi aspettavo un'altra cosa e invece è un'autobiografia bella e buona. Qualche aneddoto scolastico, un pò di vita americana, ma tutto sommato non un granchè.<br/> "

" My first book by Franzen, and I loved it. The first and last essays were particularly strong, but I was also very much taken with all of them, with Franzen's language and with his take on his and our world. "

" Decent, but unfortunately not as good as it could have been had the most interesting stories been spread throughout as opposed to all at the beginning followed by some fairly average stories "