Jonathan Franzen’s novel ‘The Corrections’ is Finalist for Top Fiction Award

The author himself may not be that popular in certain circles, but acclaim for Jonathan Franzen's ‘The Corrections’ continues. Franzen's novel about a dysfunctional and unhappy Midwestern family is a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle prize. Among other nominations announced Monday are a poetry collection by 90-year-old Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz, essays by Martin Amis and a novel by W.G. Sebald, a highly regarded German writer who was killed in a car crash late last year.

Franzen is already a National Book Award winner. The critics' nomination reinforces the author's place in what he calls ``the high-art literary tradition,'' and should help ‘The Corrections’ outlast the notoriety from his falling out with Oprah Winfrey. The talk-show host chose his novel in September for her book club but canceled the traditional author dinner after he made a series of disparaging remarks.

Franzen and his latest work have continued to grow in popularity with sales of ‘The Corrections’ now exceeding 1 million copies, an extraordinary number for a work of literary fiction. The sales of his masterpiece are especially surprising, considering that his previous work garnered sales of less than 20,000 copies.