If The Corrections' author Jonathan Franzen was concerned that his audience would be too consumed with the crisis surrounding the September 11 terrorist attacks to pay attention to his new book, he's probably stopped worrying now. Many booksellers had already spied Oprah Book Club stickers on new shipments of the book by the time Oprah officially made it her new selection (calling it "the best 568 pages I've read in years," though we doubt she has separate categories for each page count).
Franzen will stay true to his plans for the 15-city tour that kicked off September 22, using a car to make his way between stops. FSG's Jeff Seroy said Franzen originally planned it that way "because he really likes to drive."
How important is this book to independents? Some stores called FSG in the weeks after the attacks, pleading that the author keep the tour going, because, as one bookseller reportedly said, "We really need this." On the heels of a 65,000-copy first printing, already large for a work of serious nonfiction, FSG went back to press for more than 600,000. "This is an affirmation of what [Franzen] was trying to do, which was produce an important novel that contributed to the culture and reach a broad readership," said Seroy.
Given a distracted media, FSG believes Franzen has been relatively lucky. The house lost a couple of TV interviews, but most of the review and interview coverage came out the week of September 2. "I wouldn't want to publish a list that's dependent on Letterman or Leno right now, but a book like this won't be affected too much," Seroy told PW. Franzen did get some airplay in connection with the disaster, appearing in an impromptu lineup with Maya Angelou and David Halberstam on Nightline.
Even before Oprah, The Corrections rose to #7 on the New York Times list for September 25. For October 7, it sits at #8, behind Stephen King and a bit ahead of James Patterson—in fine, commercially viable company.
While some have called Oprah's selection unusual, they may do well to remember that The Corrections is foremost about a dysfunctional family, a subject Oprah knows a little something about.
