whenever I fell I need to make sense of my life, just for today, or whenever I feel life is a bit to harsh I read Franzen. The sky is clear again, I feel somebody cares, I feel I can be at ease with my inadequacy, I realize the world is a vast place and that writers get out of their way to describe it, the world as seen through the eyes (and glasses) of Franzen is a place I am happy to live in-He even makes ornithology an exciting matter! I didn't read a few essays in this collection purely because they were long belches about books I hadn't read, so why bother, I'll get to them eventually, etc. That said, there is a lot of good stuff here, even if it does, at times, wind down to Franzen complaining about birds for long stretches of pages.Some of this is just mindless bitching that does nothing but reinforce his position as a useless bore ("I Just Called...") and some of this is clearly just filler culled from his New Yorker column, ("Hornets"), but when he gets going, it's beautiful and easy and does lots to actually help the plight of bird watchers and environmentalists and so on. I just wish he had maybe waited five years and put a bit more into it. Franzen forever.
What do You think about Più Lontano Ancora (2012)?
Acually, very good, just not in the mood for thoughtful essays at the moment.
—nannie
