to watch. In The Los Angeles Times, critic Richard Eder welcomed the book: "Jonathan Franzen has written a novel of our times; so imaginatively and expansively of our times, that it seems ahead of them." In The New York Times, American Heritage contributing editor Peter Andrews wrote, "Make no mistake about it, The Twenty-Seventh City is an impressive debut by a gifted young writer... It's a riveting piece of fiction that lingers in the mind." Reviewing the author's second novel Strong Motion, critic Laura Shapiro at Newsweek discussed The Twenty-Seventh City's "brilliance" and Franzen's "prodigious gifts"; she described the novel as "a huge and masterly drama of St. Louis under siege, gripping and surreal and overwhelmingly convincing," concluding, "The news that he is at work on a third [novel] is welcome indeed." References External links Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times on The Twenty-Seventh CIty The New York Times on The Twenty-Seventh CIty 1988 American novels Novels by Jonathan Franzen Novels set in St. Louis Farrar, Straus and Giroux books 1988 debut novels American satirical novels