Every time I begin to think that maybe this Jonathan Franzen guy might be worth reading,* he goes and does something that makes him seem like a bit of a jerk. The unfortunate thing about his statements about his now-dead friend DFW is that it's very hard to sort out his motivation. I can conceptualize that he's hurt and bewildered by what happened. I can get that he wants to counteract some of the egregious praise that's gone DFW's way, since Dave Wallace is not/should not be a role model. But some of it does feel awfully manufactured, and all seems to be directed at taking his friend down a peg or two--ie there's not a lot of positive reflection on his friendship, there haven't been instances where Franzen admits to having taken a position where DFW was, on later reflection, correct.
Someone should really write a book about those two.
*Even if only because of my maddening need to read everything.
"Thou shalt not extinguish thine anger, but shall master it,
that thy conscience may not be blunted by adjustment
to wrong causes."
-The Dutch Ten Commandments to Foil the Nazis
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