--- description: The passage is entitled "The Republic of Bad Taste" title: Read an Excerpt From Jonathan Franzen's Upcoming Novel image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ea7a43c82d0f480/6988535b2dce0168099e40e6/rtr3avs5.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read an Excerpt From Jonathan Franzen's Upcoming Novel _Purity_ by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 8, 2015 9:54 AM CUT  U.S. novelist and essayist Jonathan Franzen looks on after being awarded with the Carlos Fuentes Literary Salon medal at the International Book Fair (FIL) in Guadalajara November 25, 2012. U.S. novelist and essayist Jonathan Franzen looks on after being awarded with the Carlos Fuentes Literary Salon medal at the International Book Fair (FIL) in Guadalajara November 25, 2012.Alejandro Acosta—Reuters by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 8, 2015 9:54 AM CUT Renowned American writer Jonathan Franzen’s fifth novel, eagerly awaited by his many fans, will be out later this year. Entitled _Purity,_ the novel is centered around a young girl named Purity Tyler and spans multiple continents and [several different themes](http://www.amazon.com/Purity-Jonathan-Franzen/dp/0385681518 "undefined") including “identity, the Internet, sexual politics and love—among countless other things.” Although readers will have to wait until the fall to get their hands on the award winning writer (whom TIME called the [Great American Novelist](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2010185,00.html "undefined")), they can sink their teeth into an excerpt from the book called “The Republic of Bad Taste,” published in the _New Yorker_ on Monday. [Read the excerpt in the _New Yorker_. ](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/08/the-republic-of-bad-taste "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3912224/jonathan-franzen-republic-of-bad-taste-purity-novel-excerpt/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3912224/jonathan-franzen-republic-of-bad-taste-purity-novel-excerpt/"},"headline":"Read an Excerpt From Jonathan Franzen's Upcoming Novel Purity","datePublished":"2015-06-08T09:54:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:59:33.673Z","description":"Taken from a novel that will span \"identity, the Internet, sexual politics and love—among countless other things\"","url":"https://time.com/3912224/jonathan-franzen-republic-of-bad-taste-purity-novel-excerpt/","keywords":["Books","Excerpt"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ea7a43c82d0f480/6988535b2dce0168099e40e6/rtr3avs5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ea7a43c82d0f480/6988535b2dce0168099e40e6/rtr3avs5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. novelist and essayist Franzen looks on after being awarded with the Carlos Fuentes Literary Salon medal at the International Book Fair in Guadalajara","caption":"U.S. novelist and essayist Franzen looks on after being awarded with the Carlos Fuentes Literary Salon medal at the International Book Fair in Guadalajara","creditText":"Alejandro Acosta—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3912224/jonathan-franzen-republic-of-bad-taste-purity-novel-excerpt/","name":"Read an Excerpt From Jonathan Franzen's Upcoming Novel Purity"}}]}] ```