SOURCE: McNally, T. M. Review of The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen. Yale Review 90, no. 2 (April 2002): 161-69.

In the following review of The Corrections, McNally examines the structural narrative of Franzen's book, exploring the novella-like aspects of certain chapters.

“Blessalor this foodier use nusta thy service make asair mindful neesa others Jesus Name amen,” Gary said.

I once taught at a university in Kentucky. One of my colleagues, an elder colleague, fancied himself a poet. To this day one line sticks in my head: a narrator, paying attention to a young woman leaning over (I can't remember what), makes the following observation: “her breasts dropped / to fullness.” I later learned that several students, guided by the poet-professor's student aid worker who typed and secretly distributed the manifold revisions of these poems, referred to the old man as the Kentucky Fried Poet. All those breasts and thighs.

I was reminded...