"Freedom"

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

By Jonathan Franzen

When Jonathan Franzen published "The Corrections" in 2001, he gained a measure of celebrity unusual for a literary novelist when he was invited to discuss his book on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" — then was disinvited when he publicly expressed reservations about having a Winfrey logo stamped on his book's dust jacket, writes Patrick Condon.

The ensuing flap most likely drew more readers to Franzen's dysfunctional family epic, but earned him accusations of snobbery from plenty of detractors. He might win a few back with his new novel, "Freedom", which is superior to its predecessor and proves that Franzen has few living peers in crafting fiction that delves both widely and deeply into modern American life.

No vampires or zombies, no apocalyptic scenarios or serial killers, no giant domes: Franzen and his publisher are gambling that there's still an audience for a 576-page novel about middle-class people and their problems. For those willing to invest the time, the reward is a book you'll still be thinking about long after you've finished reading it.