Enid and Alfred live in the suburbs of the peaceful but backwardish midwestern town St Jude. Their lives seem to be just as peaceful as the place they live in. The three children are all grown up and out of the house, there are no material worries, and all Enid hopes for is a last Christmas together at St Jude before they remove to a retirement home, probably somewhere near the children.

A review quoted on the cover claims that Franzen "has put himself into the league of Updike and Roth". That may be true as far as his style of writing is concerned. Heis writing flows slowly and steadily like a big river. He pays abundant attention even to little details and thus evokes vivid images inside the reader's mind. You really feel as if you were present in the scenes that follow not only Alfred and Enid, but also their children Chip, Gary and Denise. We follow them in their present lives, but through a number of flashbacks we are also informed about the family's history and skellettons in diverse cupboards.

Al this intimacy leads not to endearment, but to a thorough desconstruction of any idea that this typical American family could be, in any, even the slightest, sense be characterized as happy. One disastrous affair, habit, character trait or incident after the other is unearthed and finally we are left not so much with empathy for people who each in their own way really suffer, but rather with contempt for disgusting little persons.

This novel, alas, could be easy reading as for its language, but its content makes it one of the hardest texts I have recently read. This is perfectly painful reading, forcing the reader to frequently stop and find new hope before s*he contiues the painful voyage down to the ending.