Jonathan Franzen's new short story in The New Yorker

[J. Garbage]

...anyone read this thing?  I'm assuming it's part of a novel and that's why it's totally unsatisfying as a story.  I suspect it's some kind of allegory about the downfall of American liberalism or some such?  White liberal nightmares?  Grand Canyon??  I don't know, thought it sucked.  Thanks for your time.

[daveB from Oakland]

I didn't read it, but I'd like to praise Jonathan Lethem's recent New Yorker story entitled "Ava's Apartment".

http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2009/05/25/090525fi_fiction_lethem?currentPage=all

I read this story a few days after hearing Tom talk about Dogmo ... the Lethem story is a similar tribute to animals that make the world a better place.

Not to get all "Marley and Me" on y'all ... but anyway, it's a good story, you can print it out and read it for free ... I really liked it.

By the way, when did all the Johnathans and Johns become Jonathans and Jons?

[buffcoat]

I didn't read it, but I'd like to praise Jonathan Lethem's recent New Yorker story entitled "Ava's Apartment".

Wait, you're praising a story you haven't read?  What cheek!

[Sarah]

By the way, when did all the Johnathans and Johns become Jonathans and Jons?

Though Jons used to be Johns, Jonathans have always been Jonathans.  "Johnathan" is a modern corruption.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

The Lethem story is awesome.  I'm actually saving it for Tom, but it's way too soon. 

And now I am about to name-drop a dog: I know the real Ava, who really is a three-legged pit bull. 

As for Franzen, meh.  I dug The Corrections when it came out, and was briefly swept up in the hype surrounding his Harper's article, but it becomes clearer and clearer that he's a pretentious douche, and that his only real agenda is returning to a 1956-65 that only existed in his imagination.

[yesno]

"Jonathan" and "John" are different names. "Jon" is short for Jonathan. This is The Way. "John" is short for nothing.

[J. Garbage]

The Lethem story is awesome.  I'm actually saving it for Tom, but it's way too soon. 

And now I am about to name-drop a dog: I know the real Ava, who really is a three-legged pit bull. 

As for Franzen, meh.  I dug The Corrections when it came out, and was briefly swept up in the hype surrounding his Harper's article, but it becomes clearer and clearer that he's a pretentious douche, and that his only real agenda is returning to a 1956-65 that only existed in his imagination.

Yeah, I like The Corrections, but have you read How To Be Alone?  Eww boy.  I'll tell you how to be alone: adopt the personality of the man who wrote this book.

[Chris L]

Looks like you guys are having a Jonathon! 

(This post is also an example of how to be alone)

[daveB from Oakland]

The Lethem story is awesome.  I'm actually saving it for Tom, but it's way too soon. 

And now I am about to name-drop a dog: I know the real Ava, who really is a three-legged pit bull. 

Cool! So, that story also featured an "abandoned" but somewhat well-appointed apartment building that got turned into a defacto animal shelter/residence ... does that have any corollary in NYC reality? I know Beverly Hills has those ridiculous swanky dog hotels, but the concept of "Ava's apartment" was a little different from that ...

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

The Lethem story is awesome.  I'm actually saving it for Tom, but it's way too soon. 

And now I am about to name-drop a dog: I know the real Ava, who really is a three-legged pit bull. 

Cool! So, that story also featured an "abandoned" but somewhat well-appointed apartment building that got turned into a defacto animal shelter/residence ... does that have any corollary in NYC reality? I know Beverly Hills has those ridiculous swanky dog hotels, but the concept of "Ava's apartment" was a little different from that ...

The real dog is owned by a bookseller in NY, who has a home, and who used to own a shop that Lethem worked in -- though I'd imagine that the idea for the story had to have come from somewhere.