The Twenty-Seventh City : A Novel

The debut novel of New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Franzen, The Twenty-Seventh City is “a startling, scathing first novel about American ambition, power, politics, money, corruption and apathy” (People).

St. Louis, Missouri, is a quietly dying river city until it hires a new police chief: a charismatic young woman from Bombay, India, named S. Jammu. No sooner has Jammu been installed, though, than the city’s leading citizens become embroiled in an all-pervasive political conspiracy. A classic of contemporary fiction, The Twenty-Seventh City shows us an ordinary metropolis turned inside out, the American Dream unraveling into terror and dark comedy.

“Unsettling and visionary…A book of memorable characters, surprising situations, and provocative ideas.”—The Washington Post

“An imaginative and riveting examination of our flawed society…A rare blend of entertainment and profound social commentary.”—Chicago Sun-Times

“A suspense story with the elements of a complex, multilayered psychological novel...Lingers in the mind long after more conventional potboilers have bubbled away.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A novel so imaginatively and expansively of our times that it seems ahead of them.” —Richard Eder, Los Angeles Times