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How to Be Alone: Essays Hardcover – 1 September 2002
by
Jonathan Franzen
(Author)
Jonathan Franzen (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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Free tracking. Signed by Jonathan Franzen on the title page at the Alley Theatre, Houston, Texas.
- Print length256 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherFarrar Straus & Giroux (T)
- Publication date1 September 2002
- Dimensions14.73 x 2.84 x 21.74 cm
- ISBN-100374173273
- ISBN-13978-0374173272
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Product details
- Publisher : Farrar Straus & Giroux (T); 1st edition (1 September 2002)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 256 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0374173273
- ISBN-13 : 978-0374173272
- Dimensions : 14.73 x 2.84 x 21.74 cm
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
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Jonathan Franzen is the author of five novels--Purity, Freedom, The Corrections, The Twenty-Seventh City, and Strong Motion--and five works of nonfiction and translation, including Farther Away, How to Be Alone, and The Discomfort Zone, all published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the German Akademie der Kunste, and the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Customer reviews
4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
146 global ratings
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Top reviews from other countries

WeAreWhatWeRead
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 March 2016Verified Purchase
The blurb for this book pretty much says it all. I actually think that the essay form suits Franzen much better than the novel. Here, he can just tell us what he thinks without the need to invent characters and situations and write a whole novel as a vehicle for his ideas. As for the ideas themselves, love 'em or hate 'em, they are wonderfully written and sharply argued. The meditation on the role of the writer was intriguing; the insight into Oprah's book club was priceless; everything to do with his parents was deeply moving and just beautiful. Clever stuff. Top marks.
4 people found this helpful
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Henry
1.0 out of 5 stars
Sloppy kindle edition
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 August 2016Verified Purchase
This is a review of the kindle edition only. It's littered with intrusive OCR errors, especially frequent confusion of "the" and "die". Clearly no-one at the publisher actually bothered to read the text before seliing it.
5 people found this helpful
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Uneasy Reader
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great writing from a great writer
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 September 2015Verified Purchase
Great writing from a great writer. Depressing reading for aspiring authors. Of historical interest now as many of the essays have been overtaken by events - for example his rift on young people and their texting habits - all well work reading nonetheless
2 people found this helpful
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60thenew40
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's complicated
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 March 2018Verified Purchase
A very thoughtful view of aspects of being human and the effect on other humans. Modern life is interesting!

ladybird
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 November 2018Verified Purchase
I got into this straightaway I really enjoyed the first piece but I like all his work ...