Frisch, Max (Vol. 18) - Introduction

Frisch, Max 1911–

Frisch is a Swiss novelist, playwright, and architect who writes in German. In work that has as its central concern the problem of personal identity, Frisch confronts such subjects as dictatorship, anti-Semitism, prejudice, and justice and injustice. According to Martin Esslin, where most German-speaking writers of his generation "indulge in wild generalizations, Frisch always remains concrete and direct; where they go in for Weltanshauung, Frisch remains ideologically uncommitted; where they are baroque and excessive in their style, Frisch is simple, direct, and yet full of lyrical power." (See also CLC, Vols. 3, 9, 14, and Contemporary Authors, Vols. 85-88.)