Prophet or crank …

… Cultural Critic or Complainer-in-Chief? – Forward.com.

You could call what he’s after secular humanism, a belief that by relentlessly asking the right questions, we can live ethical lives committed to the gradual betterment of society.

This can be seen in the very title of his 2001 novel, “The Corrections,” and in the moral contortions that the book’s hero and Franzen stand-in, Chip, undertakes as he flails around in search of a way to live untainted by the crimes of society.

The problem is that society doesn't commit any crimes. Individuals do. And the questions are perennial, not original.