Jonathan Franzen

Jonathan Earl Franzen was born on August 17, 1959, in Western Springs Illinois, USA to Irene and Earl T. Franzen. He was the last born in the family with two other siblings. His father was an engineer while his mom was a housewife who didn’t value arts and always encouraged Franzen to take other better subjects. His early years were spent in a less known suburb of St. Louis, Missouri called the Webster Groves. At Swarthmore College, he studied Germany and came out of the other end with a degree while being fluent at it. He got married soon after graduation and moved to Boston with his wife Valerie Cornell in 1982to pursue a career as an author.