Franzen deserves all his accolades as a writer. In this collection of non-fiction, he ranges from accounts of maximum security prisons to appalling breakdowns in the Chicago Post Office (think piles of undelivered mail dumped in back alleys), to an intimate account of his fathers Alzheimers.

For those who love non-fiction, pick up this book. It will delight you, amaze you, and anger you. You will find something here that you will burn to discuss with someone. Ant THAT is a book worth reading.

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Interesting collection of essays on a wide range of subjects. The one about the Chicago Postal Service was especially good - hysterical in its decription of the utter insanity of disorganization and corruption. Also includes essays about writing, illness, prisons, and other topics.

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Jonathan Frazen is a very smart man...the problem is that he knows it and he is pretty cocky and snobish about writing in a way that is many times elitist and confusing to the "no so acultured" and that is why I can't give him 5 stars...besides that...his texts make me think and question things and if there is one thisng us a society need is somene who makes us crawl out of our confortable little lives and think and question.

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