Salonica World Lit: Quick Hits for Oct. 14: To Franzen or not to Franzen and Canada is Franzen-less

Quick Hits for Oct. 14: To Franzen or not to Franzen and Canada is Franzen-less

Quick Hits for Oct. 14

Just in the click of time...

No Freedom? No Franzen?!: The backlash was almost immediate. Once the National Book Award finalists were announced and the list didn't include Franzen for the most amazing novel in American history(sic), the internet Audubon went haywire over the exclusion. Personally, I thought the list was very well chosen as far as fiction is concerned. They didn't cave to hype and even went with not one, but two, novels from small presses. It's not like Franzen has been snubbed either (even though that's what the spin on this is becoming). He won it for for The Corrections.

Never Fear, Herr Franzen: No don't go feeling sorry for Franzen. Germany loves him! At the German Book Fair, he's like the Hasslehoff of American letters. Check out the article for why Franzen and other American writers(there are other American writers besides Franzen?) are all the rage in Germany.

Oh, Canada, You Have No Franzen: Even though Canada has no Franzen, they have managed to scrape together a few choice titles for the Governor General Literary Awards. Whew. I thought they might just give up on fiction all together without the likes of a Freedom to bolster their standards of literature. Anyway, they are our neighbors to the north and these books are definitely worth a look-see, eh? Take off, eh!