Crossroads: A Novel

By Jonathan Franzen

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The highly anticipated new novel from one of our greatest living writers.

It's December 23, 1971, and the Hildebrandt family is at a crossroads. The patriarch, Russ, the associate pastor of a suburban Chicago church, is poised to break free of a marriage he finds joyless--unless his brilliant and unstable wife, Marion, breaks free of it first. Their eldest child, Clem, is coming home from college afire with moral absolutism, having taken an action that will shatter his father. Clem's sister, Becky, long the social queen of her high-school class, has veered into the era's counterculture, while their younger brother Perry, fed up with selling pot to support his drug habit, has firmly resolved to be a better person. Each of the Hildebrandts seeks a freedom that each of the others threatens to complicate.

Universally recognized as the leading novelist of his generation, Jonathan Franzen is often described as a teller of family stories. Only now, though, in Crossroads, has he given us a novel in which a family, in all the intricacy of its workings, is truly at the centre.

By turns comic and harrowing, a tour-de-force of interwoven perspectives and sustained suspense, Crossroads is the first volume of a trilogy, A Key to All Mythologies, that will span three generations and trace the inner life of our culture through the present day. Complete in itself, set in a historical moment of moral crisis, and reaching back to the early twentieth century, Crossroads serves as a foundation for a sweeping investigation of human mythologies, as the Hildebrandt family navigates the political, intellectual and social crosscurrents of the past fifty years.

Jonathan Franzen's gift for wedding depth and vividness of character with breadth of social vision has never been more dazzlingly evident than in Crossroads.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9780385693752

Jonathan Franzen

Jonathan Franzen’s work includes four novels (The Twenty-Seventh City, Strong Motion, The Corrections, Freedom), two collections of essays (Farther Away, How To Be Alone), a memoir (The Discomfort Zone), and, most recently, The Kraus Project. He is recognised as one of the best American writers of our age and has won many awards. He lives in New York City and Santa Cruz, California.

Reviews for Crossroads

[jinjer-641812 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

First book of 2022 and it was outstanding. How does he DO it????

Loved Marion. Especially when she started...taking some actions.

Thought I was going to hate Russ all the way through to the end, but he was a solid, stand up guy with the Navajo, don't you think?

Not sure how I feel about the way Becky's life is going.

When is Part 2 going to be published? I need it NOW.

[pgchuis · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I'm quitting this at page 160. I was enjoying it to start with, but each chapter so far has been from a different perspective, and not a lot is happening. I have got bogged down in Marion's back story and can't summon up the interest to go on.

[amniot · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Dysfunctional family seen from each of their points of view. The same could be said of The Corrections, but that previous book by Franzen was witty, insightful, surprising, and ultimately satisfying. I found none of that here.

[adrianburke_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Top stuff.

[oldblack-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Yes, I agree with those who say that Franzen is a great writer. This book challenged my view of myself, gave me new insights into my past and continuing inadequacies. It's long, but every page is justified.

[ibkennedy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lovely characters. Entirely memorable. A delightful read.

[alexrichman_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A richly enjoyable read, and a return to form after Purity without quite hitting the heights of The Corrections. I’ve always preferred Franzen’s adult characters to his children, and the same is true here, but the Seventies setting really suits him. I’m already looking forward to the next instalment of the planned trilogy.

[brangwinn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found listening to audio book, even with a great narrator, tedious. I failed to have compassion for any of the members of the dysfunctional family.

[chasidar_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm not totally sure how I feel about this book. I listened to the audiobook and it was really long - 25 hours. There were times I wanted to abandon it and then I read that it's set to be a trilogy. Not sure I would've stuck with it had I known. I found the characters to be very unlikable. There was nobody who was likable except maybe the youngest son but he's only 9. But I powered through and I can't say that I didn't like it all in all. I will definitely continue with the trilogy.

[hccpsk · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

All I can really say about Jonathan Franzen’s latest book, Crossroads, is too — too long, too religious, too preachy, too Franzen-y. He is unarguably a great writer, but this will be the last book of his I read.

[refice_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

In Crossroads Franzen does an unremarkable job of developing a book full of unlikeable characters.The story, set in the early ‘70s, focuses on an assistant pastor’s family and its relationship with the community it serves. Russ Hildebrandt (the minister) and his wife Marion are growing apart as Russ eyes a pretty widow and Marion grows bored with her role as pastor’s wife. Their teenaged children – Clem, Becky, and Perry – all act out on their deep sense of rebellion. Russ is entitled; Marion is insipid; Clem is pitiful; Becky is tiresome; and Perry is pompous. (Their youngest child, Judson, is inoffensive, but he barely makes an appearance and is never fleshed out.) Backstories for each character reveal the experiences that shaped them, but still, each one was free to have made different choices along the way, or at least free to not bellyache about the ones they did make.Franzen’s portrayal of these folks transcends mere flawed characters. These people actually border on ‘bad’. Shouldn’t average readers expect redemptive morality in their spiritual leaders? The Hildebrandt family appears to have none.The book takes its title from a popular fellowship where young people (and some adults) socialize and seek moral guidance. For me, such a group was completely antithetical to the cynical ‘70s. At that time no ‘cool’ kid would participated in it. When a book is this long (nearly 600 pages) I tend to become invested in it by the end, even if I haven’t particularly liked it. Not so with Crossroads! The portrayals were so demoralizing that I was glad to close it for the last time!

[castlelass · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book in a trilogy about a dysfunctional American family, the Hildebrandts, in the early 1970s. They are a family of six. Marion, the mom, is a former Catholic who has experienced mental health issues and is secretly going to a therapist. Russ, the dad, is a former Mennonite and currently a pastor of a suburban church. He is pursuing Frances, one of his parishoners, while knowing it is wrong and feeling guilty about it. The four children are Clem, Becky, Perry, and Judson. Clem is going to college and decides to give up his scholarship to fight in Vietnam, which leads to a fallout with his father. Becky has found religion and develops a romantic relationship with a rock and roll front man. Perry is a brilliant teen who develops a problem with drugs. Judson is too young to have too many of his own problems, but he watches as his family falls apart. In-depth backstories are provided for each character.

On the plus side, the novel contains deeply drawn believable characters. The 1970s setting is realistic, describing the counterculture, activism, the generation gap, drugs, Vietnam, etc. Crossroads is a Christian youth group, and these scenes are some of most convincing in the book. On the minus side, it is overly long (almost 700 pages). It is a book about "life" and there is not much of a storyline. It is obviously setting up the next book in the series, and the ending leaves a lot up in the air. So, overall, it was a mixed bag for me. I probably will not continue the series, especially if the next book is as long as this one. I liked it more than The Corrections, and I will read another of his works, but I have a feeling this author is not for me.

[lady_lazarus · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was intrigued by the theme of family members growing detached from each other and the previous books I read by Jonathan Franzen. The theme was there and it was realistically captured from different perspectives, but the story was somehow dragging and there was no part when I was captured by it. I read some other books in between but somehow I got back to this one and eventually made it through. I was not impressed and feel that I should not have bothered.

[soraxtm-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a good book
Franzen can write himself some decent prose.

[bobbieharv · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A morally bankrupt family (the father, a minister who lusts after his parishioners; an oddly passive mother enmeshed with her mentally ill drug-addicted grandiose younger son; the eldest son, who hurts and breaks up with his loving girlfriend because he's too obsessed with her to improve his grades; and the attractive narcissistic manipulative daughter) undergoes the trials of life for 581 pages before, each in his or her own way, finding Jesus. Jesus what a terrible book that for some crazy reason, which I guess must be Franzen's writing style, I read till the bitter end (the only reason it gets two stars).It's a trilogy. God help us. I loved the Corrections but I'll not finish this godawful trilogy.

[anaraguard · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was very taken with this sprawling (is there any other kind from Franzen) novel with multiple generations of a family, all striving to be good. Or at least, for goodness, redemption, love. I noted so many pages where the language simply floored me. Other than a few too many erections (honestly--could ANY of the male characters have a different response to women??), I highly recommend Crossroads. Franzen says it is the first of a trilogy. We'll see if I have the endurance to try volumes two and three when they emerge.