The Best Books of the 21st Century: Taffy Brodesser-Akner on ‘The Corrections’
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Why is The Corrections considered a defining novel of early‑2000s America?
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I'm Gilbert Cruz, and this is the Book Review from The New York Times. Two years ago, The New York Times published a list of the 100 best books of the 21st century, and that wasn't just us saying so. We reached out to hundreds of novelists and nonfiction writers, poets and bookstore owners, literary luminaries of every stripe, and we asked them what they thought were the best books published since the year 2000. We took all of those votes, we crunched the numbers, and we put together our list. It's a great guide to older, but not ancient, books that you should probably check out. Today, we're going to focus on the fifth book on our list of 21st century greats. It's a very high number, number five. That book is The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen.
The Corrections is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month. The novel, in addition to becoming a much-discussed bestseller, won the National Book Award. It was a Pulitzer finalist. It was an Oprah Book Club pick until it was not. It's also a book that came out just a week before 9-11. You could not think of a more terrible time to try to promote and sell a novel. And yet The Corrections was an instant success, perhaps because to many, it represented the end of a pre-9-11 America. When I realized this anniversary was on the way, I knew I had to bring in my friend and colleague Taffy Bredeser-Ackner. Taffy is a features writer at the New York Times Magazine. She has reported and written heartbreaking stories and hilarious stories and some of the best celebrity profiles in existence.
She is also the author of two novels herself. Fleischman is in trouble and Long Island compromise, the latter of which was deeply influenced by the corrections. In fact, Taffy loves the corrections so much that she says that she has read it more regularly than she is willing to admit. Although I think she's going to admit it here. Taffy, thank you for joining us.
Thank you for having me. I feel like how could you not discuss this? that this book became the defining book of the climax of America's golden moment, which ended on September 10th. And it is. It is filled with the anxieties of people who had had an easy life, who... came of age in a great economy of old problems, it is the best book you could use to understand where Generation X came from.
Mm-hmm.
Before we talk about all the things that it represents, I think we should just talk a little bit about who the people are in the book, what the book is about. This is a full spoiler conversation. You've had
25
years. All spoilers all the time. Taffy, let's talk briefly about what it's about. It's a book about America. It's a book about medication.
How did The Corrections rise to fame despite debuting a week before 9/11?
It's a book about sex. It's a book about money. It's a book about so many things. But at its heart, it is a book about a family. Tell us about this family.
Okay, this book is about the Lambert family. They are from St. Jude, which feels like it must be St. Louis, Missouri. They are a sort of nuclear family of father, mother, Albert and Enid, and three children, Gary, Chip, and Denise. The story is... yes it's about America yes it's about money yes it's about sex yes it's about shame and insecurity and fear it is about the things we do to correct things
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Why is The Corrections considered a defining novel of early‑2000s America?
0:00–3:52
2
How did The Corrections rise to fame despite debuting a week before 9/11?
3:52–10:43
3
What is the Lambert family’s story and why does it matter?
10:43–18:52
4
Why does Taffy Brodesser‑Akner say she’s read The Corrections 20 times?
18:52–33:33
5
What themes of family, shame, and correction does the novel explore?
33:33–49:31