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While devouring this enjoyable, often brilliant novel, I also found myself trying to articulate just how exactly it differs from The Corrections and Freedom. It's got Franzen's usual pop-literary tone, his commentary on current events, his juicy psychologizing, his landscape of prescription abuse, family dysfunction and sexual pathology. Then halfway through, it finally hit me: Franzen was clearly hugely inspired by Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. With its intense, battle-of-the-sexes storyline and a few suspense-thriller twists, this novel should/could cross over a bit in appeal to Flynn's fans who stick with it.

I think it's going to be a huge hit and deserves to be. It's masterfully plotted, the pieces fit together incredibly well, and it has powerful forward momentum. I predict it won't get much awards play, but I suspect the author was not looking for awards with this one.

While I've really enjoyed Franzen's novels, I'm also frankly fascinated with Franzen the one-man media controversy: the curmudgeon/Luddite, the amateur environmentalist, the whipping boy for every issue of sexism in publishing. He's made a fool of himself on more than one occasion, and I'd have expected his latest to have more protective armor, to be more stiff and serious and irreproachable.

Instead, he's having more outrageous fun than ever (and at times reminded me of Roth at his I-don't-give-a-f*&%-what-you-think-of-me best). He's taking far more risks than he needs to. And the novel also shows him dealing with his fame/infamy in a constructive, playful way, for example articulating the problems of the internet/social media with wit and eloquence but then putting it in the mind of a deeply deranged character. The gusto of the writing is contagious, and in many ways Franzen has never been more relevant.

I find myself resisting the extremity of the plot (and its few violent twists) but have to admit that given the subject matter it may be fully justified. Overall I found the novel's engagement with current popular fiction and current events to be thrilling and surprising. I'd rather see an author stretch out of their comfort zone and try something daring than just churn out more of the same. And even when I resisted the novel (which was rarely), I was enjoying it.