Jonathan Franzen 978-0-374-23921-3 Farrar,
Straus and Giroux 576 Pages; First Printing: Sept. 2015
In Purity, Jonathan Franzen lures the reader by dangling the carrot,
today’s idealism, a setup reminiscent of the Occupy Movement and the various
hacker groups, particularly Wikileaks. Purity is the lone child of Penelope
Tyler, a woman who has split from her past, claims to be on the run from an
abusive ex and now lives in a cabin in the woods. We meet Pip (Purity) as she
struggles in a job she does not like, while owing $130,000 in student debt and living
in squalor, squatting in a foreclosed house with a cast of characters. The
catch is that Pip is not a true idealist; she simply wants to find the identity
of her father in hopes he can pay off her student loan and some more. 