Farther Away. Mon June 15, 2020. 6pm pt

Our inaugural attempt at a #bookclubhouse! We’ll be reading an essay that’s one of my favorites, Farther Away by Jonathan Franzen.

What: Farther Away, full text here, audiobook here
When: Monday, June 15th, 2020. 6pm PST.
Where: Clubhouse!

CTAs

1. Tweet this session to others
2. Get emailed about future #bookclubhouse meetings
3. Nominate content for future sessions

About the essay

The Essay as a literary format occupies this magical space between memoir and thesis, journalism and polemic. This particular 14,000 word essay is a tour de force of interweaving countless themes of experience and reflection on a particular slice of life lived. In a likely underestimation of the major themes, I count no fewer than thirteen:

1. The Island he’s on, Masafuera
2. His childhood
3. Robinson Crusoe, the “first” novel
4. The Novel’s boundaries and functions as a format
5. Boredom
6. David Foster Wallace, the famed author, MacArthur Fellow, and his best friend who committed suicide
7. Mental islands and isolation
8. Writing
9. Birds
10. Authenticity
11. Struggle
12. Modern Life’s constraints
13. Feeling accepted

Add thoughts for this session

If there are topics, questions, or musings you had that would be good for group discussion, please add them below. It’ll help facilitate well!