To Franz, or Not to Franz

Jonathan Franzen, Webster Groves native and author of the highly acclaimed novel The Corrections, is out with his new book Freedom, and, with it, some new criticisms. A recent article in Newsweek questions whether he's a great guy, and, if his writing is so good, if it should really matter. The article states that in the time since The Corrections was published (2001), "the Internet has exposed writers to a level of personal scrutiny formerly reserved for pop stars and teen idols, making it difficult to separate how you feel about an author’s personal life from how you respond to his work, despite your best efforts to read the writing, not the writer." In St. Louis Magazine's Fall Arts Preview (in the September issue of SLM), Stephen Schenkenberg interviewed Franzen about his new book and his connection to St. Louis, birds, and character development. So, if Franzen (or any other author or, artist for that matter), has a personality that some might not like, should that effect how you judge his writing? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.