(Readers who prefer his breakout 2001 novel, The Corrections, will surely welcome this.) For Russ, who organizes volunteer work in the inner city and at a Navajo reservation, the ’70s bring a humiliating shift in identity.

Unlike Franzen’s previous two novels, 2010’s Freedom and 2015’s Purity, Crossroads is light on curmudgeonly social commentary.

The social change convulsing America in 1971 only lightly shapes the crises that beset the Hildebrandts. When he sings, “And no I don’t see her much since she started with horses/No I don’t see her much since she started to ride,” the song is less a parroting of classic country tropes and more a unique spin on the alienation and solitude that permeates country music’s origins.Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. It’s silly on its face, but the track succeeds – and remains one of the best in Richman’s discography – because of the underlying melancholy. Jonathan Goes Country kicks off with “Since She Started to Ride,” a playful story about the protagonist’s wife disappearing from his life after she becomes obsessed with horse riding. Decades later, the album remains a north star in Richman’s discography, a brilliant illustration of his genius as a songwriter and interpreter of popular music’s rich history. Nevertheless, when Richman went in to record the follow-up to his self-titled debut, he doubled down on his experimentation, recording Jonathan Goes Country, a seemingly irony-tinged interpretation of modern country music imbued with far more sincerity than appeared on the surface.

It has since become a cult classic among Richman devotees, but it was far from the art rock dopamine rush that made his band a beloved staple of the indie rock renaissance. The record was built around voice, guitar, and percussive foot stomping. His debut solo album, 1989’s Jonathan Richman, was radical in its experimentation, an almost tangible representation of Richman freeing himself from his past group. His band, Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, had dissolved a few years prior. In 1990, Jonathan Richman was at a career crossroads.

Crossroads jonathan