Information about the author
Jonathan Franzen is the author of five novels, most recently "Purity" and "Freedom," and five works of nonfiction and translation, including "Farther Away" and "The Kraus Project." He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the German Akademie der Künste, and the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Series editor Robert Atwan has been the series editor of "The Best American Essays" since its inception in 1986. He has edited numerous literary anthologies and written essays and reviews for periodicals nationwide.

Blurb text
The award-winning and best-selling Jonathan Franzen picks the best essays from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites, bringing his "elegance, acumen, and daring as an essayist" (New York Times) to the task.