This is a book that I wanted to like. A gardening cleint loved The Corrections and told me I had to read something by him since he had such a neat style. I started reading about five essays and could not finish any of them. I found his writing pompous and boring, and the subjects he chose did not speak to me. Still, I hope this book will find a reader who appreciates it! This is a very popular writer and there must be some people who like him if he managed to get so popular.

I find the title of this book strangely appropriate for a man who managed to alienate himself from his body of readers by dissing Oprah. Still, I liked The Corrections and would like to listen in as Franzen speaks.

I was not taken by this book. Franzen's essays struck me as written in an overly intellectual voice, as coming from his head rather than his heart, as saying what he was supposed to say rather than what he felt. Even his essays on reading and books, subjects I usually find captivating, did not intrigue me. A disappointment.

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