The Corrections is one of the most important and touching novels of the last years. But extraordinary success came only after a very long uphill struggle made of impeccable essays, of long articles in which he reflects on contemporary literature, and of two excellent novels that should be revisited, The Twenty-Seventh City and Strong Motions. Both when he writes for the New Yorker and when he recollects his thoughts in books such as How to Be Alone, Franzen represents one of the most acute, sincere and unavoidable voices of contemporary American literature. He has just completed a new collection, The Discomfort Zone, which he defines as a personal history and which will be followed by a new novel.