Jonathan Franzen

9 Stories

8K Authors to AI Producers: Stop the Theft

Margaret Atwood, James Patterson, others demand compensation for work used to train AI

(Newser) - More than 8,500 authors are asking tech companies to avoid using their copyrighted work to train AI systems, unless those companies are willing to pay up. "Millions of copyrighted books, articles, essays, and poetry provide the 'food' for AI systems, endless meals for which there has been...

Let's Finally Admit It: We're Doomed on Climate

Jonathan Franzen writes that it will serve us well to acknowledge calamity is inevitable

(Newser) - Worried about climate change? An essay in the New Yorker by novelist Jonathan Franzen probably won't help. The piece is getting attention for his provocative argument: We're doomed, and it's time to admit it instead of "pretending" we can turn things around. Here's the gloomy...

Franzen: I Wanted to Adopt Iraqi Orphan to Figure Out Youth

Opinionated author says more stuff about women authors, too, in interview

(Newser) - To really get a handle on today's young people, would you a) hook up with your local Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter, b) volunteer at a school, or c) adopt an Iraqi orphan so you can pick his brain for why he's not idealistic or angry enough? If...

Books We Pretend to Read—But Never Do

The Corrections, Infinite Jest make the New York Times list

(Newser) - So, you've read The Corrections? And Infinite Jest? Yes, me too. And the entire Newser staff also likes them. Because there are certain books we simply lie about, as the New York Times learned during a survey of its own staff. Posted anonymously, the Times list includes:
  • A Confederacy
...

The Best Books of 2010
 The Best Books of 2010 
Year in Review
Dec 4, 2010 12:00 PM CST

The Best Books of 2010

The New York Times Book Review picks out its favorites

(Newser) - The year's coming to a close and you know what that means: Best-of lists! The New York Times Book Review kicks things off with a list of the year's top books. Including: Fiction
  • Freedom, Jonathan Franzen—“Even richer and deeper” than The Corrections, this Bush-era Midwestern family saga perfectly
...

Thief Grabs Franzen's Glasses, Demands Ransom

Author runs into latest Brit snafoodle at Hyde Park event

(Newser) - A London literary event featuring US author Jonathan Franzen was gatecrashed yesterday by a crazed thief who grabbed the glasses right off the writer's face, left behind a $150,000 ransom demand for them, then leaped in a lake as he fled British bobbies. Franzen was said to be "...

Oprah Mends Fences With Novelist Who Dissed Her
 Oprah Mends Fences With 
 Novelist Who Dissed Her 
book club pick
Sep 16, 2010 10:52 AM CDT

Oprah Mends Fences With Novelist Who Dissed Her

Jonathan Franzen's 'Freedom' lands coveted book club slot

(Newser) - Nine years after Oprah Winfrey chose Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections for her book club, and the "uncomfortable" novelist talked his way out of appearing on her show, he's getting another chance, reports the New York Post . The media magnate's people won't confirm the Oprah's Book Club selection—likely the...

The Best of the Bush Years: Cultural Edition
The Best of the Bush Years:  Cultural Edition
glossies
Dec 14, 2008 4:57 PM CST

The Best of the Bush Years: Cultural Edition

Newsweek picks most emblematic TV, music, movies of last 8 years

(Newser) - The Bush years have been their own little era, sparking artistic dissent and encouraging elaborations on new national themes. Newsweek had its top critics pick the piece from their field that seems most indicative of this decade:
  • American Idol: "Like Dubya, the show makes a virtue of its unflagging
...

'Old Farts' Invade Facebook
'Old Farts' Invade Facebook
Nov 3, 2007 1:00 PM CDT

'Old Farts' Invade Facebook

Journal's Matthew Rose experiences mid-life crisis in cyberspace

(Newser) - Facebook has matured from an e-frat house where co-eds post pics of their hedonistic exploits to a cyber-cocktail party where the well-heeled gather to display baby pictures and taunt each other like, well, school kids. “I am so telling Rupert,” a columnist teases the Journal’s Matthew Rose,...

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