About the book
The story opens in St. Paul, Minnesota, where Jonathan Franzen introduces Patty and Walter Berglund, a couple their neighbors once took for the ideal liberal family: Walter a mild environmental lawyer and family man, Patty a model mother and homemaker. By the 2000s the family has turned into a puzzle for the street. Their teenage son Joey has moved in with the Republican family next door, Walter has taken a job that ties him to the coal industry, and Patty is coming apart in plain view. Close to the marriage stays Richard Katz, a rock musician who was Walter's college best friend and rival. It was Franzen's first novel after The Corrections, and a television adaptation was announced in 2022.
Oprah Winfrey picked it for Oprah's Book Club, describing an epic family saga with sex, love and even rock and roll. General Mills chief executive Ken Powell also appears in a roundup of favorite reads from top CEOs as a fan of the novel.
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This book has 2 recommendations
Ken Powell (CEO/General Mills)
CEO of General Mills, Ken Powell, is into a different genre of books, the novel kind with great life lessons. “Freedom” is one of those books.
Oprah Winfrey (CEO/Oprah Winfrey Network)
You don’t hear me say this word often, but this book is a masterpiece ... It’s an epic family saga—it’s got everything—sex and love, even rock n’ roll, and everything you want in a book.
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