I was planning on some long, drawn-out synopsis of Jonathan Franzen’s “Freedom” because it’s that good of a book, compelling in both narrative and commentary on the modern American family. But the following quotes summarize the novel better than I ever could:
“People came to this country for either money or freedom. If you don’t have money, you cling to your freedoms all the more angrily. Even if smoking kills you, even if you can’t afford to feed your kids, even if your kids are getting shot down by maniacs with assault rifles. You may be poor, but the one thing nobody can take away from you is the freedom to f#$@ up your life what ever way you want to.”
“The personality susceptible to the dream of limitless freedom is a personality also prone, should the dream ever sour, to misanthropy and rage.”