The Corrections (2001) by Jonathan Franzen is a sprawling, satirical family saga that captures the fraying American Dream at the turn of the 21st century. The novel revolves around the dysfunctional Lambert family—Alfred, a rigid, Parkinson’s-stricken patriarch; Enid, his status-obsessed wife; and their three adult children: Gary, a financially anxious banker; Chip, a failed academic turned screenwriter; and Denise, a chef entangled in workplace scandals.
As Enid orchestrates a final Christmas reunion in their Midwestern hometown, Franzen dissects themes of capitalism, mental illness, and generational disillusionment with razor-sharp prose and dark humor. The novel’s rotating perspectives reveal each character’s self-deceptions and desperate bids for redemption (“corrections”).
Winner of the National Book Award, The Corrections is a defining critique of late-20th-century malaise.
