(np) irreverent question for Mr Franzen, perhaps

[kelber at mindspring.com]

I started reading it, but stopped round about the page where one of the characters gratuitously mentions Pynchon, at which point I realized that Franzen thought his paranoid ethnic conspiracy plot was an homage to Pynchon's They paranoia.  I've never wanted to read anything more of Franzen's.  His tantrum at the prospect of Oprah fans ruining his work by wanting to read it didn't help.

Laura

-----Original Message-----
>From: rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com>
>Sent: Oct 27, 2010 11:14 AM
>To: Michael Bailey <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com>
>Cc: P-list <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Subject: Re: (np) irreverent question for Mr Franzen, perhaps
>
>fwiw, the book is terrible
>
>On Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 7:58 AM, Michael Bailey
><michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Wut's 'e got against Indian women?  (Actually it sounds like it might
>> be a good read)
>>
>>
>>
>> The Twenty-Seventh City is a 1988 novel by Jonathan Franzen, his
>> first. The story of the Probst family's unraveling is set among
>> intricate political conspiracy and financial upheaval in 20th century
>> St. Louis, Missouri.
>> [edit] Plot
>>
>> In 1984, an Indian woman called S. Jammu is appointed to the role of
>> St. Louis police chief. A surprise choice, direct from being the
>> Bombay police commissioner, her appointment is greeted with some
>> surprise and suspicion. This is especially true for the political and
>> business leaders that make up the county's advisory board, Municipal
>> Growth. Over the coming months, however, a combination of a cult of
>> personality, the surprise appearance of a Native American terrorist
>> group and a combination of blackmail and extortion bring many members
>> of Municipal Growth to support Jammu. Those not won over include
>> General Norris - a right-wing business owner - and Martin Probst -
>> leader of the group and upstanding construction magnate. While
>> Probst's initial misgivings are more to do with maintaining
>> impartiality, his concerns are deepened by Norris's reports of illegal
>> surveillance and other underhand practices.
>>
>> Further pressure is brought to bear on Martin Probst in order to make
>> him endorse Jammu and his family life begins to suffer. First, his
>> 17-year-old daughter, Luisa, moves out of the family home to live with
>> an older man called Duane Thompson. Then Martin's wife, Barbara, is
>> seduced and ultimately kidnapped by a subordinate of Jammu's - Balwan
>> Singh. The fact of the kidnapping is obscured from Martin and he is
>> led to believe that Barbara has embarked on a live-in affair with a
>> man in New York.
>>
>> The clash between Jammu and Probst is starkly delineated by a proposed
>> merger between the city and county (part of a larger property
>> speculation scheme hatched by Jammu and her cohorts). Jammu acts as
>> the figurehead for the merger whilst Probst becomes the leader of the
>> opposition movement. Despite this public contest (and the deeper
>> motivations on both sides that it masks) the pair find themselves
>> drawn to each other, eventually resulting in them sleeping together.
>>
>> The merger fails, in large part due to voter apathy. This setback,
>> combined with a chronic lack of sleep, is enough to cause Jammu to
>> commit suicide.
>>