Jonathan Franzen is a popular American writer, author of numerous books and essays. His novel Corrections (2001) was an incredible success, winning the National Book Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Franzen was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 2002. Franzen's second bestseller, Freedom (2011), was almost unanimously hailed by critics as the first great novel of the 21st century, a worthy literary response to the challenge of September 11 and a return to hope that the novel genre is not dead. Essays and memoirs also occupy a significant place in the writer’s work. The Distant Island features essays Franzen published between 2002 and 2011. These texts are a kind of apology for reading, the author’s reflections on the place of literature among the values of modern society, as well as vivid memories of childhood and youth.