Author Jonathan Franzen talks about his new novel Purity

The author, whose fifth novel comes out this autumn, was speaking last week before an audience of hundreds at BookExpo America at the Jacob K Javits Convention Center.

American author Jonathan Franzen at BookExpo America. AP Photo

Writing has become no easier for Jonathan Franzen, whose fifth novel comes out this autumn. And neither, apparently, have interviews.

"I hope never to become glib," said the prize-winning American author of Freedom and The Corrections.

Franzen was speaking last week at BookExpo America in New York City, where he made his first promotional appearance for the upcoming novel Purity.

For fans of the 55-year-old author, the hour-long discussion was vintage Franzen – witty and self-deprecating, digressive and self-conscious – with topics ranging from basketball to Russian literary theory to the difficulties of talking about his work.

"Wheels are turning desperately in my head," said Franzen when asked at the start of the discussion by interviewer Laura Miller of Salon.com, if Purity was more "playful" and "adventurous" than his recent books. The author explained that he had recently returned from East Africa and was struggling to figure out "cogent ways" to talk about Purity.

Not everyone stayed with him. The crowd was standing-room only at the start, but many seats were empty by the time the floor was opened to questions from the audience. Those who left early missed a university student tell Franzen that The Corrections was the basis for her project on the "depressed male protagonist in post-9/11 literature".

“Say no more,” answered a surprised but amused Franzen.

Expectations are high for Purity, a 500-plus page novel that covers East Germany, South America and a community of anarchists in Northern California. Freedom and The Corrections were critically acclaimed best-sellers, endorsed by Oprah Winfrey, that made Franzen a grateful and reluctant success.

He has written about his desire for literary fiction to be accessible to a broad audience and also expressed scepticism about whether he wants his own books to be read by a broad audience. He has often criticised internet culture, dismissing Twitter as "the ultimate irresponsible medium". He even questioned the title of his new book, saying he was reluctant to tell people he had written a novel called Purity.

“You can sometimes present yourself as somewhat misanthropic,” Miller said. “Do you agree with that, a little bit?”

“No,” said Franzen, smiling nervously; the audience laughed. “No. Not at all. What makes you even say that?”

The title character of Purity is a young woman of uncertain parenthood, known to people as Pip, her name and background an apparent reference to Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. The novel also features an East German refugee who runs a Wiki­Leaks-like news organisation out of South America and there are flashbacks to Germany during the Cold War. Purity is often bleak, its plot includes murder, suicide and numerous betrayals, but also leaves open the chance for love and family reconciliation.

“I see tension between your sometimes curmudgeonly-ness and your love for your characters,” Miller said to Franzen.

“The thing is dead in the water if I don’t find characters I can love,” he said. “That’s what I’ve got, as a writer, is these characters that I love. To me, that’s what defines my work, is characters that I love.”

With a tone both friendly and hurt, he then asked Miller: “Really, misanthropic?”