Genre(s): Literary Fiction, Family Life, Coming of Age
The Franzen haters likely won't be swayed, but Crossroads is a first rate novel. The Hildebrandts are a prototypical midwestern American family coming apart at the seams. Nothing new under the sun, but Franzen is a natural storyteller. Everything rings true, feels urgent and necessary and 500+ pages move very quickly. There's almost a warmth here that was not as evident in previous work, and it's most welcome. This year's fiction offerings are hard to top and this is (for me) at or very near to the top of the heap.
