The Freedom Mistake

Apparently publishing of Jonathan Franzen's newest bestseller, Freedom, has not gone as smoothly abroad as it in the US.  HarperCollins UK mistakenly printed an older version of the novel instead of the finalized corrected copy for the novel's UK release last week.  The Publisher and CEO of HarperCollins UK Victoria Barnsley issued an apology to Franzen and the public on October 1st in which she thanked them for their patience and urged the public to wait to buy the novel until the correct version can be released this week.  Readers who have already purchased the incorrect version of the novel will be able to exchange their books for the updated edition.  

Click here to read the formal apology from HarperCollins UK 

Oprah joins the Freedom bandwagon

This morning it was announced that new #1 New York Times bestseller Freedom by Jonathan Franzen has been added to Oprah's book club.  Now interested readers can read along with the book club using Oprah's reading calendar which can be found on Oprah's website's book section, along with many other resources such as discussion questions and an excerpt from the novel.  So if you still aren't convinced about buying this new hit you can test out a portion of it for free.

The New Number 1

After months on top, Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series have finally been kicked out of the number one spot.  So lets find a little more about this mystery up and comer.  Freedom by Jonathan Frazen follows the lives of Patty and Walter Berglund.  Patty and Walter, hippie/yuppie idealists embarking on a happy life in Old St. Paul end up facing a reality years later that is anything but the pretty picture they had imagined.  Their son moves in with their Republican neighbors, Walter has gone corporate, and Patty is growing more unpleasant as time passes.  

Jonathan Frazen is the author of three other novels.  The Corrections, also deals with the similar theme of the difficulties of modern life.  It won several awards including ALA Notable Books and The National Book Award in fiction and was nominated for several others.  Frazen's other novels are The Twenty-Seventh City and Strong Motion.  He has also written two works on nonfiction, How to be Alone and The Discomfort Zone.