Stetson University and the Athens Theatre Present Novelist Jonathan Franzen, 11/22

Stetson University and The Athens Theatre presents novelist Jonathan Franzen as a part of the James Turner Butler Lecture Series on Monday, November 22 at 7:00 PM. The event is free to the public and tickets will be available at the door.

When The Corrections was published in the fall of 2001, Jonathan Franzen was probably better known for his nonfiction than for the two novels he had already published. In an essay he wrote for Harper's in 1996, Franzen lamented the declining cultural authority of the American novel and described his personal search for reasons to persist as a fiction writer.

Five years after publishing the Harper's essay, Franzen became fully engaged with his culture. The Corrections was an enormous international bestseller, with translations in 35 languages, American hardcover sales of nearly one million copies and nominations for nearly every major book prize in the country - Franzen was awarded the National Book Award for this novel.

As if sales and critical acclaim weren't enough to boost his profile, the author found himself in a public relations imbroglio over his conflicted reaction to his book's endorsement by Oprah's Book Club. In 2009 The Corrections was named as one of the "100 Best Books of the Decade" by The Times (London).

His short stories and his essays, including political journalism, have most recently appeared in The New Yorker, The Best American Essays, The New York Times, and The Guardian. He is working on a new novel, titled Freedom.

For more information, visit the Athens Theatre online at www.athenstheatre.org.