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Jonathan Franzen

Jonathan Franzen, Kanye West and the cultural appropriation of trolling

September 8, 2015 by Nathan Bransford12 Comments

It’s been ten years now since Kanye West caused an immense stir in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by staring into a camera and saying, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” next to a memorably dumbfounded Mike Myers. (George Bush later said it was the worst moment of his presidency). Kanye West has of […]

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Filed Under: CultureTagged With: Jonathan Franzen

The Privileged Rage of Jonathan Franzen

September 30, 2013 by Nathan Bransford45 Comments

Jonathan Franzen has written a book about a writer once nicknamed the “Great Hater,” and announced it with an essay in which he hated on a lot of things, including Twitter, Salman Rushdie, Jeff Bezos, Jennifer Weiner, the Mac guy in Apple’s Mac vs. PC ads… the list is long. While his jabs against Bezos […]

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Filed Under: CultureTagged With: Culture, Jonathan Franzen

Are we stripping modern books bare?

July 9, 2012 by Nathan Bransford72 Comments

Reader Drew Turney wrote to me recently with an interesting question. There’s so much advice, commentary, and opinion about stripping away anything unessential to a book’s plot. Writing in the modern era emphasizes moving the plot forward at all costs, and everything else is “ruthlessly killed off no matter how darling.” Digressions and detritus that […]

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Filed Under: BooksTagged With: Charles Dickens, Culture, David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Franzen, Moby-Dick

Jonathan Franzen and a Fear of Noise

June 27, 2012 by Nathan Bransford61 Comments

Jonathan Franzen, like any curmudgeon, is eminently easy to make fun of. From his hyperbolic denunciations of social media and e-book readers to his passion for birds to that whole Oprah thing… he’s an easy target. So I was extremely excited about seeing him speak in person this past Thursday. I even live-tweeted some quotes, […]

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Filed Under: CultureTagged With: Culture, Jonathan Franzen

Why Are So Many Literary Writers Technophobic?

February 16, 2012 by Nathan Bransford75 Comments

It seems like hardly a week goes by without one literary writer or another hyperbolically decrying the way we’re all going to hell in an electronic handbasket. First Jonathan Franzen argued that e-books are damaging society and suggested that all “serious” readers read print. Last week Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan complained of social networking, […]

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Filed Under: CultureTagged With: Colson Whitehead, Culture, E-books, End of Publishing As We Know It, Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Franzen, Zadie Smith

What Is the Future of the Book Review?

March 14, 2011 by Nathan Bransford52 Comments

Friend of the blog Stephen Parrish passed along a PW link about Washington Post book reviewer Ron Charles and his popular (and funny) video reviews. Here, for instance, is his review of Freedom by Jonathan Franzen: It got Stephen (and me) to thinking… what is the future of the book review? Do you read reviews? […]

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Filed Under: BooksTagged With: Culture, Jonathan Franzen

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About Nathan

Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors chase their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

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How to Write A Novel
Cover of How to Publish a Book by Nathan Bransford
Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapo
Jacob Wonderbar for President of the Universe
Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp

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