The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History

This is simply a must read. The language flows so well, just like in franzen's masterpiece Corrections.

As I read this efficient memoir, I was increasingly reminded of myself. Though I didn't grow up with the pressures imposed by parents with strong preconceptions of what I should do with my life, I was, like this fellow Jonathan, a youngest child, unusually shy and unwilling to cause trouble, interested in but slow to find my footing with the other sex. It took me 50 pages to become immersed, then I was swept along by Franzen's easy prose and quirky, sometimes hilarious misadventures. As a birdwatcher, I was delighted by the final chapter, which almost became a birder's diary. Had Franzen himself been the vegetarian his love interest was at the book's end, the parallels would have been complete. I only wish I could write like him.

In this book, Franzen harnesses his powers of articulation around his own life experiences. His effort is to put into words the feelings of creeping discomfort that follow us through all phases of our life. In this "personal history" Franzen relates through 6 short stories these personal experiences in wonderfully descriptive and sensitive prose. His ability to capture these feelings and convey them to the reader is the true genius of the book. His stories cover various life events that most people either live through or are at least touched by. He talks about the feelings associated with the sale of his childhood home and how that made him feel about his parents, particularly his mother. He writes another story about how the "Peanuts" cartoon related to his life growing up and how he read it with apt enthusiasm. One of particular interest and intensity is his story about his Church "Fellowship" group as he was growing up. This one truly is a gem of a story. His story "The Foreign Language" talks about his college major in German and his experiences; especially as they relate to his quest to lose his virginity. And his final story, talks about his separation from his wife and the feelings that accompanied that decision. Franzen uses his great talent to interleave his stories with his feelings. He chooses the difficult feeling of "discomfort" to describe and elucidate. In this book, he does an extraordinary job of giving the reader a handle on those feelings. The book is recommended to all serious readers who are interested in describing internal feelings.

Admittedly, I did read some of the reviews that were published about THE DISCOMFORT ZONE, Jonathan Franzen's latest, before picking it up for myself. The Christian Science Monitor called the writing "exhaustingly and blindly self-involved." Esquire thought the book might "inspire a cringe or two." In an especially scathing review, The New York Times called it "solipsistic" and "incredibly annoying," before commenting "just why anyone would be interested in pages and pages about this unhappy relationship [with his then wife] or the self-important and self-promoting contents of Mr. Franzen's mind remains something of a mystery." After reading these reviews, I was thoroughly prepared to hate the book. Thus, it came as a big surprise to me when, shockingly, I loved the entire thing. Yes, Franzen is a bit of a narcissist. And, yes, some of his views or perceptions might be slightly strong for some readers. But isn't that the goal of a memoirist --- to hold nothing back when telling his or her own story? Isn't a memoir --- any memoir --- an exercise in self-absorption? Of selfishness? What rule states that memoirs must be filled only with agreeable and easily digestible topics and that their authors can only talk about themselves 45% of the time? Arguably, THE DISCOMFORT ZONE could be viewed as a breath of fresh air. Here, readers can dive into a series of six stand-alone essays (many of which have been previously published in The New Yorker) that, when read consecutively (or even out of order), flow together and paint a retrospective of Franzen's life thus far. A bit of a departure from his previous works (THE CORRECTIONS, HOW TO BE ALONE and others) but nonetheless written with the same fervor, these six vignettes are intensely personal and explore with microscopic acuity the relationships and experiences that made him the man he is today. In the opening story, "House for Sale," Franzen describes his final visit back to the house in which he grew up (in Webster Groves, Missouri) after his mother's death. As one is apt to do when going through old papers, drawers and closets, he uncovers vivid childhood memories and forgotten feelings associated with the tchotchkes still in the house. It is a moving experience, as one might imagine, and in his attempt to ready the house for eventual sale, so to must he grasp the passing of time and come to terms with the changes both in his own life and in the world around him. Of course, Franzen is nothing if not painfully honest, even when directing his critical eye inward. The most entertaining stories to read in this collection are those in which he dissects his perception of himself as a puny, somewhat nerdy adolescent, with a silent need to be perceived as cool while also giving off a blasé, I-don't-really-care-what-others-think-of-me attitude. As he so aptly puts it, "adolescence is best enjoyed without self-consciousness, but self-consciousness, unfortunately, is its leading symptom...this cruel mixture o

As a huge fan of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. during the 60's and 70's, I kept experiencing the same type of humorous and devastating confessions in Mr. Franzen's, "The Discomfort Zone". Although ruthless towards self and others in small doses, and mostly confessional vs. indulgent, he reveals tremendous mercies in the chapters, "Two Ponies" essentially a dedication to Peanuts, "Then Joy Breaks Through", concerning the church youth fellowship group he belonged to in the early 70's, "Centrally Located" the adventures of Jon's running buddies in high school, and "My Bird Problem", his adventures in birding, love and ecology (as if there is a difference). I've read some book reviews that are critical of Mr. Franzen's "personality", rather than an insightful evaluation of the content of and skill displayed in the book, and I am surprised. In my mind "The Discomfort Zone" seems to parallel Vonnegut's "Welcome to the Monkey House" and "Slaughter House 5", with Jon Franzen being more Billy Pilgrim than Billy the Poet. Evidently Mr. Franzen simply needs to fictionalize himself, and the critics will acclaim.... BRILLIANT! This is a wonderful book filled with love, humor, and personal stumbling. It might as easily be titled "Coyote's Memoirs".