Crossroads
Books | Fiction / General
4.3
(377)
Jonathan Franzen
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A GUARDIAN BEST FICTION BOOK OF 2021 AN INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE YEAR A WHITE REVIEW BOOK OF THE YEAR A LIT HUB BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 'His best novel yet ... A Middlemarch-like triumph' Telegraph Set in a historical moment of moral crisis, Crossroads is the stunning foundation of a sweeping investigation of human mythologies, as the Hildebrandt family navigate the political and social crosscurrents of the past fifty years It's December 23, 1971, and heavy weather is forecast for Chicago. Russ Hildebrandt, the associate pastor of a liberal suburban church, is on the brink of breaking free of a marriage he finds joyless - unless his wife, Marion, who has her own secret life, beats him to it. Their eldest child, Clem, is coming home from college on fire with moral absolutism, having taken an action that will shatter his father. Clem's sister, Becky, long the social queen of her high-school class, has sharply veered into the counterculture, while their brilliant younger brother Perry, who's been selling drugs to seventh-graders, has resolved to be a better person. Each of the Hildebrandts seeks a freedom that each of the others threatens to complicate. Jonathan Franzen's novels are celebrated for their unforgettably vivid characters and their keen-eyed take on the complexities of contemporary America. Now, for the first time, in Crossroads, Franzen explores the history of a generation. With characteristic humour and complexity, and with even greater warmth, he conjures a world that feels no less immediate. A tour de force of interwoven perspectives and sustained suspense, Crossroads is the story of a Midwestern family at a historical moment of moral crisis. Jonathan Franzen's gift for melding the small picture and the big picture has never been more dazzlingly evident.
Historical Fiction
Coming Of Age
Humor
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More Details:
Author
Jonathan Franzen
Pages
592
Publisher
4th Estate
Published Date
2021
ISBN
0008308896 9780008308896
Community ReviewsSee all
"Crossroads is the second book I've read by Laurel Hightower, and she tells such good horror stories. Crossroads is a grief horror novella, and I think fans of books like Remains by Andrew Cull, Suffer the Children by Craig DiLouie, and Grief is a False God by Gemma Amor should definitely pick this up. <br/><br/>This book has a lot of heavy content packed in, and I kind of wish I would have been in a better mindset to read it. It's good, but it's just very bleak, and I have to be in the mood for bleak. Crossroads is intense and intriguing. I'm excited to see what Laurel Hightower does next!<br/><br/>CW - grief, self-harm, suicide & ideation"
"Maybe my favorite novel"
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Annie Cobb
"Franzen is brilliant. "
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Amy ford