The Discomfort Zone by Jonathan FranzenPublisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2006
Hardback 195 pages
This autobiographical tale from Jonathan Franzen (author of The Corrections) begins with the clearing out of his childhood home after the death of his mother. From there we are transported back in time to his adolescence; to his controlling mother who is obsessed with family normalcy, to his awkwardness at being "too gifted" and his fear of unpopularity. Franzen's writing style in the tales of his childhood are spot on, with a humbling humor that allows the reader to laugh, cringe and cry at all the right places. However, the last few chapters of this tale move out of Franzen's adolescence and focus on his first failed marriage, his affair with a younger woman and his new found love of bird watching. As he goes on with his rants and raves against everything from monogamy to global warming, all of connection that we felt with the adolescent Jonathan Franzen is lost. Maybe adulthood is his discomfort zone, but I believe that if you only make it to about page 156, then you'll leave with a better feeling about this book.
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