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stellar. more complete review to come.

More Complete Review:
I loved the scope of the book. At first, the plot seemed likely to inhabit only Walter and Patty's claustraphobic boho neighborhood and taut marriage. Instead,Franzen's rumination on American rootlessness looks at the effects of our disconnection through so many lenses: the natural world, international politics, communities, and yes, family and romantic relations. I know there are other American novelists going that big these days, Cormac McCarthy comes to mind, but I don't feel like killing myself after reading Freedom, so there's that difference.

It was also a delight to read adult fiction with a female voice that I can recognize and understand. Patty is the most rooted, in a way, of all the characters: she has a specific context in American women's history and within her own personal history. It's not 'til she pushes off from that mooring that she really gets into trouble. But I love that she's not a symbol or a projection of the desires of the men in the book. (In fact, that's what Richard's for, not Patty. Nice turnaround, there). Competition is a huge theme in the book and I love that Patty is invested with as much need to prove herself as anyone else; we don't get that much in Great American Novels I'm-looking-at-you-McCarthy-again.

Also, I like that this book like so many seminal works in American fiction, is a reminder of why no one should date musicians. Can't be said enough.