Slate's Isaac Chotiner asks Jonathan Franzen if he's ever considered writing a book about race:

I have thought about it, but—this is an embarrassing confession—I don’t have very many black friends. I have never been in love with a black woman. I feel like if I had, I might dare.

Is there a word for when self-parody becomes the self? Is Jonathan Franzen the Donald Trump of the literary world?

UPDATE 1 pm: This tweet seems relevant:

That time Franzen was "frankly irritated" by @colsonwhitehead's choice of Lila Mae as narrator (via @thatlauraruby) pic.twitter.com/BGZKYIzhXq

— Maud Newton (@maudnewton) August 1, 2016