Jonathan Franzen confirms my suspicion, that no one should ask an author about his/her work. To his credit Franzen, I think, recognizes this, when he characterizes himself as a professional interviewee and an amateur writer. Still that doesn’t stop him from drawing an analogy from friendship to political freedom. It’s part of the Aristotelian framework, but alien to American traditions.
“‘We want a leader who has used public transportation.’” (
