A review by vicki_jarrett
The Discomfort Zone by Jonathan Franzen

3.0

I bought this book for two reasons – firstly, I knew from reading The Corrections that Franzen’s writing can be great (maybe a bit over-fond of itself at times but skilled enough to get away with it mostly) and thought that this slim volume implied greater economy, more focus. Secondly, I fell in love with the quote on the back ‘…the story of growing up squirming in your own skin, from a ‘’small and fundamentally ridiculous person” into and adult with strong and inconvenient passions.’ That combination of honesty, humour, tragedy and compassion that characterises the best bits of The Corrections seemed to be promised. The first section on his attempts to sell his mother’s house after her death lived up to this hope. The second, including an extended essay on the Peanuts cartoon strip was fascinating and touching. The remaining three chapters didn’t hold my attention so much. I was really struck by how conventional and even conservative the author was as a teenager. This could be seen as more rebellious than indulging in the usual teenage clichés – but these don’t seem to have been much in evidence in Webster Groves, the sheltered Midwestern US town where he grew up. This place sounds both idyllic and terrifying – the church youth groups seemed to me almost 1984ish in their group shaming sessions. By the end of the book, I was mostly glad it wasn’t any longer – the Bird-watching section was hard to get through. I liked his insights into what was driving his obsession with birds, but the prolonged listing of breeds and ‘exciting’ birding events nearly put me to sleep. Worth it if you’re a big fan of his other writing but perhaps not a great place to start if not already won over.