Dan Winters for TIME
Nine years ago, America’s acclaimed novelist could have quit with his hit book, The Corrections. Instead, he spent a few more years working on another gem that hit the hearts of the nation’s readers.
Jonathan Franzen’s fictional writing deviates from modern twists. Rather than capturing readers’ attention with vampire-themed romance or adolescent wizardry, the 51-year-old focuses on something millions of households can relate to: the American family.
(See Jonathan Franzen’s bookshelf: five novels that recently inspired him.)
This past year, Franzen penned Freedom — a novel heralded by TIME’s Lev Grossman in the magazine’s Aug. 12 cover story as a “way-we-live-now” piece. With 2.85 million sold copies of The Corrections in hand, Franzen’s newest effort again zeroes in on the struggles a Midwestern household in flux.
(See the top 10 fiction books of 2010.)
As real American families grapple with tough times, the timing of Franzen’s fictional take on the Berglunds’ everyday turmoil makes him one of TIME’s 25 finalists for Person of the Year. More than 10,000 readers have logged their vote for Franzen. Do the same for any one of our candidates by heading over to TIME.com.