SALON

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 1:09 PM UTC

The “Freedom” video review you shouldn’t miss

A new post by Ron Charles turns Jonathan Franzen's new book into comedy brilliance

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Topics: Salon Reading Club, Fiction, Books,

The

As you know, we’re big fans of Jonathan Franzen’s “Freedom” here at Salon. (Check out our “Freedom” Reading Club here.) But we’re not the only ones to have loved the book: “Freedom” has gotten raves from almost every major new outlet. But the most entertaining review we’ve seen is definitely this hilarious Ron Charles video for the Washington Post. In his video review, Charles expertly pokes fun at Franzen’s less-effective stylistic tendencies, the hype surrounding the book, and his own video book reviewing (“You need book criticism that’s fast, fun, and incredibly hip”). If you’re going to spend 4 minutes watching anything about Jonathan Franzen’s “Freedom,” you’ll want to spend them watching this.

 

Thomas Rogers

Thomas Rogers is Salon's former Arts Editor. He has written for the Globe & Mail, the Village Voice and other publications. He can be reached at @thomasmaxrogers. More Thomas Rogers.

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The Salon Reading Club is an opportunity for Salon readers to come together and discuss a new book. At noon on Saturdays, Laura Miller kicks things off with an article about the book, and readers continue the discussion in the comments.

Our second pick is Jonathan Franzen's

Freedom.

Here's the schedule:
• Saturday, September 4: Pages 1 through 187
• Saturday, September 11: Pages 187 through 382
• Saturday, September 18: Pages 382 through 562

Along the way, we'll collect questions for author Jonathan Franzen. At the end of the month, we'll select the best questions and Franzen will respond.

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