Crossroads

A Novel

De: Jonathan Franzen

Narrado por: David Pittu

"Narrator David Pittu superbly transports the listener into the lives of the Hildebrandts, a family with many secrets." - AudioFile Magazine

This program includes a bonus conversation between the author, Jonathan Franzen, and the narrator, David Pittu.

Jonathan Franzen’s gift for wedding depth and vividness of character with breadth of social vision has never been more dazzlingly evident than in Crossroads.

It’s December 23, 1971, and heavy weather is forecast for Chicago. Russ Hildebrandt, the associate pastor of a liberal suburban church, is on the brink of breaking free of a marriage he finds joyless—unless his wife, Marion, who has her own secret life, beats him to it. Their eldest child, Clem, is coming home from college on fire with moral absolutism, having taken an action that will shatter his father. Clem’s sister, Becky, long the social queen of her high-school class, has sharply veered into the counterculture, while their brilliant younger brother Perry, who’s been selling drugs to seventh graders, has resolved to be a better person. Each of the Hildebrandts seeks a freedom that each of the others threatens to complicate.

Jonathan Franzen’s novels are celebrated for their unforgettably vivid characters and for their keen-eyed take on contemporary America. Now, in Crossroads, Franzen ventures back into the past and explores the history of two generations. With characteristic humor and complexity, and with even greater warmth, he conjures a world that resonates powerfully with our own.

A tour de force of interwoven perspectives and sustained suspense, its action largely unfolding on a single winter day, Crossroads is the story of a Midwestern family at a pivotal moment of moral crisis. Jonathan Franzen’s gift for melding the small picture and the big picture has never been more dazzlingly evident.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

©2021 Jonathan Franzen (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Less than! an hour in and I'm hooked...

Been waiting on this for awhile, I've only just started it and love it. Exactly what Jonathan Franzen is good at,thank you. I'm so glad to see it's twenty four hours to listen to.

post book interview - awesome!

having an author and reader interview after the book is brilliant! thank you. hearing others about the book when i’ve just finished it is always what i want most.

Great story, not-so-great narrator

I went back and forth between the Audible and Kindle versions. The narrator and his various "voices" were too much for me, so I finished up reading the book rather than listening to it. He was awful at female voices, black voices, and particularly, Navajo voices. Oh my god. So bad. Either read it straight, or have multiple readers.

Technically brilliant, philosophically pointless

Me Franzen writes with the precision and wit of a sniper. His command of English is a joy to have flowing past your face in the excellent Audible production. However, his narrative is populated with characters who function poorly, undermine themselves and one another, flipping on the beach of life like brain-dead fish. Their own disturbed thought processes are wittily explained by the author, but I spent a week with characters whom I cannot admire and seldom liked. I learned nothing. I was entertained but repeatedly angry at his characters’ bypassing opportunities for redemption. I will not buy anymore Franzen. Being amused by the poor functioning of broken people is not of interest to me.

It's complicated.

While I found the first few chapters slow going, with rather cloying characters and circumstances in which I had little interest, I stuck with it. This book is a deep dive into the internal/ external lives of its characters and the performance is excellent. Intentionally or not, it reveals questions about what is goodness, selfishness, Good works, faith or belief, personal fulfillment, God, family. The ending, however, is not satisfying and feels almost deliberately a tease. I was annoyed.

Insightful, engrossing, brilliantly narrated

Mr. Pittu is a perfwct narrator for this book. once again Franzen gives us a great book, with moments of humor, many more of cringe-worthy behavior, and the non-stop ability to get inside the heads of his characters as they struggle to both be good and be happy.

Convoluted, like life. Stay with it.

This is a long, complicated story tracing characters over an era of their lives. I wasn’t able to listen for prolonged periods of time, often dipping in for 20 to 30 minutes. This made it difficult to pick up the threads meant to be woven together: the characters’ growth or devolution, their dynamics and historical connections. I also confess a distaste in general for the whole “god” theme. I found some characters’ devotions and belief systems disingenuous and deus ex machina-like.
Still, I held on till the end and became engrossed in the narrative. If this was a book club read I would look forward to hashing out all the drivers and motivations, all the strengths, flaws, and especially the lies that reveal the human frailties showcased herein.

Another Franzen Gem

He’s the best we’ve got. And even though as a catholic cast-out I had trouble with all the religiosity - he dealt with it in such a nuanced and touching way I found myself saying - okay I get it - this is the comfort people derive from faith. But his true genius will always be his rich fully developed characters and his extraordinary dialogue. He’s out of my doghouse from Purity or whatever that last abomination was….the one that proved he was human after the genius of the Corrections and Freedom. Because I’m sure he cares that he was in my doghouse. And to be fair I love dogs so as far as doghouses go it was a comfy one with lots of treats and an overpriced doggie bed. Well done.

what a pleasure

I loved the dialogue and characters, as only Jonathan Franzen can conceive. this is the best he has written (so far). looking forward to the sequel.

Loved this book

The writing is impeccable. The book revived my desire to read a good story. The character development and how it is strategically placed is fantastic