Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly but continually expecting a different result.  Which is what I did when I decided to read another one of Jonathan Franzen's books. 

The book starts off pretty well, it's about a family living in the suburbs and Franzen does a great job describing the place in their neighborhood this particular family had.  Patty, the mom, is a near-perfect wife and mother, Walther, the dad, is reserved but well-liked.  Their son Joey is difficult, dating the slightly lower-class next-door neighbor's daughter, and their daughter Jessica was a near-perfect child. 

After an initial introduction, the book changes into a memoir written by Patty about her life growing up leading to how she met and married Walter.  This part of the book was enjoyable as well - Walter's charismatic roommate, Patty's manipulative best friend both figuring prominently in the story.  But after this section, the book take a difficult turn.  The narration leaves the memoir and follows different member of the family.  Some of their stories - like Joey's failed businesses - are interesting.  But some parts of the book are significantly overwritten and veer into very strange political commentary. 

By the time I was 2/3 of the way through the book I was exhausted!  The details were extensive, the speeches some of the characters give way too long, and the overall story loses its direction.  The characters each make predictable mistakes.  Then they have to find their way back to being authentic.  By the end of the book, most of the loose ends were tucked neatly away, but at 550+ pages, I didn't really care that much by then.

I think I'm pretty much done with Franzen.  Sorry, Oprah.