What do you think of the phrase "Franzenfreude"? I think in German it literally means "joy in Franzen." But I'm no stranger to literary envy and am in no position to deplore it in others. There's been discussion in the Salon Reading Club about which character in "Freedom" most represents you. Which one is it? All four characters draw equally on my experience of life, though I admit to having a particular fondness for the youngest of them. The characters in "Freedom" appear to make decisions, but they're all rooted in their experience and biology. It's striking, for example, how much like Patty's father Walter turns out to be, and her relationships with both Walter and Richard make all sorts of sense on the basis of her upbringing. Where do you come down, ultimately, on the question of free will? This is exactly the kind of question I want to leave to the reader. The novelist is responsible for creating an experienc...