Franzen: The head is a lonely punter

Jonathan Franzen caused a literary furor in 2001 when Oprah Winfrey chose his novel “The Corrections” to be part of her television book club . He made a series of remarks that, taken together, made it clear that he wasn’t completely happy at being included in a group that lumped “good books” with a number of “schmaltzy, one-dimensional” choices. Yeah, I guess it would be tough to be part of a group that embraces the likes of Toni Morrison, John Steinbeck, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Joyce Carol Oates as members.

Whatever. Oprah has chosen one of the great American novels of the 20th century, Carson McCullers’ novel “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter,” as her most recent book club selection. Houghton Mifflin publishing reports that it has printed some 700,000 copies of the book “and they’re going fast.” The publisher also has these other works in print: “Collected Stories of Carson McCullers,” “Reflections in a Golden Eye,” “Clock Without Hands” and a biography of McCullers, “Carson McCullers: A Life,” by Josyane Savigneau.

Good thing McCullers is dead. Some ass might ask her to comment on being thrown in with such a diverse groups of authors. Worse, they might ask her to review “The Corrections.”