Twitter has found the perfect way to mock everything infuriating about Jonathan Franzen

#FranzenAirQuotes: The game where you guess what mansplainy thing Franzen is saying -- and everyone wins

Published August 27, 2015 4:15PM (EDT)

  (AP/Mary Altaffer/Salon)
(AP/Mary Altaffer/Salon)

With the release of Jonathan Franzen's fifth novel "Purity," and also a slew of unflattering and misleading headlines (many, involving the alleged Iraqi war orphan the author once considered adopting to get to know the "younger generation" better), a new cheeky hashtag has emerged centered around a not-so-new image of the polarizing contemporary American novelist.

The image: Jonathan Franzen attending the panel "An Exchange - Is Techonology Good for Culture?" -- a 2013 event in conjunction with The New Yorker Festival -- and flashing some air quotes.  The hashtag: #FranzenAirQuotes, in which people take turns imagining what sort of mansplain-y and/or self-righteous thing Franzen might have been saying while making the gesture.

If it's a thing, Franzen has very likely air-quoted it. Here are some of the best below:

[embedtweet id=636912721653403648]
[embedtweet id=636898548496338944]
[embedtweet id=636911414863654912]
[embedtweet id=636901889158705154]
[embedtweet id=636901428007714816]
[embedtweet id=636901125548064768]
[embedtweet id=636900749004378112]
[embedtweet id=636917312403185664]


By Colin Gorenstein

Colin Gorenstein is Salon's assistant editor of internet and viral content. Follow @colingorenstein or email cgorenstein@salon.com.

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