Freddy’s Book | Freddy’s Book

At a glance:

Author: John Gardner
First Published: 1980
Type of Plot: Novel of ideas
Time of Work: The 1970’s and the sixteenth century
Setting: Madison, Wisconsin, and Sweden
Principal Characters: Jack Winesap, Sven Agaard, Freddy Agaard, Gustav Eriksson Vasa, Lars-Goren Bergquist, The Devil, Hans Brask
Genres: Long fiction, Frame story, Grotesque literature
Subjects: Folkloric or magical people, Ethics, Sixteenth century, Devils or demons, Deer, Giants, Historiography, Monsters, Sweden or Swedish people
Locales: United States, Sweden

Freddy’s Book is a dual fiction, a contemporary story that includes a historical novel with fantastic elements. The book probes the relationships of art to life and of human beings to one another. The first section, “Freddy,” takes up roughly a quarter of the entire work and serves as an introduction to the longer second half, “Freddy’s Book,” which is subtitled “King Gustav and the Devil.” “Freddy” not only sets up the longer section but also places it in context by introducing the themes that flow throughout the entire work. As the book...

Freddy’s Book | Freddy’s Book

At a glance:

The Novel

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