Jonathan Franzen, in the UK to promote his new book Freedom, is having an interesting time. Last week, thousands of copies of Freedom were recalled because the UK publishers had gone to press with a version of the book that did not include "minor corrections" made to the text in the final editing stages. Then, at the official book launch, a man snatched Franzen's glasses and ran off with them, while his accomplice delivered a ransom note for $100,000. Needless to say, the ransom was not paid, and the offender, who had run into the Serpentine Lake in London's Hyde Park, was located by helicopter and apprehended.
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