The Lambert family is falling apart, and so is the 20th century. Franzen's 2001 novel revived the social novel in America at a moment when critics had declared it dead. Each family member gets their own register of failure. Won the National Book Award, landed on the cover of TIME, ignited a public argument about literary ambition that still hasn't ended.

The case for it, the case against, and the rest of the canon open with Pro.