4th* of July at the US Embassy

I’ve never been to the US Embassy in Canberra before. The building – situated among plenty of other embassies in the leafy suburb of Yarralumla – is instantly recognisable, with plenty of red bricks, white fences and white railings. It’s also recognisable by its sheer size. When I hear that there’s an opportunity going to be part of one of their biggest parties of the year – their 4th of July celebrations – as a ‘roving social media reporter’, I’m keen. To my surprise and delight, I get the gig. What follows, dear reader, is what I can happily describe as a whirlwind experience.

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Jonathan Franzen at the National Library

I’d apparently lived under a rock for the past decade, because it wasn’t until late 2010 that I noticed a significant amount of worldwide media frothing with news of Jonathan Franzen’s latest work that my intrigue began.  Curiosity securely in place, I purchased an exorbitantly priced copy of Freedom at the 2010 Christmas sales and, after falling deeply in love with each exquisite page, I’d since devoured every other piece of his work I could get my hands on, including his 2001 work The Corrections and numerous articles at The New Yorker, growing ever more adoring.   It’s fair to say Jonathan Franzen has safely secured the title of ‘T1’s favourite author’: it’s not surprising that my excitement on hearing from the Riot Act that Jonathan Franzen was coming to the National Library on 14 September was palpable for weeks.