Acclaimed American author Jonathan Franzen said in a new interview published today that he once thought about adopting an Iraqi orphan because he thought that would help him understand young people.
Franzen, 56, told The Guardian that this thought came up while he was in his 40s and was not happy with the younger generation. He said that it was an “insane” idea and it only lasted “maybe six weeks.”
“One of the things that had put me in mind of adoption was a sense of alienation from the younger generation,” Franzen explained. “They seemed politically not the way they should be as young people. I thought people were supposed to be idealistic and angry. And they seemed kind of cynical and not very angry. At least not in any way that was accessible to me.”
New Yorker editor Henry Finder suggested that he should meet with young university graduates instead, which “cured me of my anger at young people.”
Franzen also responded to claims that he is sexist, which he disagrees with.
“I am not somebody who goes around saying men are superior, or that male writers are superior,” he told the Guardian. “In fact, I really go out of my way to champion women’s work that I think is not getting enough attention. None of that is ever enough. Because a villain is needed. It’s like there’s no way to make myself not male.”
Franzen is the author of The Corrections and Freedom. His newest book is Purity, which is out on Sept. 1.
image courtesy of INFevents.com