Most readers may think of Mark Helprin as the writer of serious short-story collections and novels (“Refiner’s Fire,” “A Soldier of the Great War”) or fantastic fiction (“A Winter’s Tale,” “Swan Lake”); but if they had been paying close attention to his last novel, “Memoir From an Antproof Case,” they would have seen ample evidence of an excellent humorist.
In “Freddy and Fredericka,” Helprin gives his funny bone full rein, spinning a picaresque, allegorical tale about the royal family that many in Great Britain and America will find quite familiar, although devoted fans of Lady Di may not be amused, since the royal couple are spot-on fictional mirrors of Charles and Diana.
Following one misadventure after another, the decidedly uncharismatic, smart but bumbling Frederick and the beautiful but empty-headed Fredericka are sent off – incognito – to America to redeem themselves in the eyes of the rest of the royal family. The couple are literally parachuted into New Jersey, making their way across country any way they can, including in the belly of a freight trains and on the back of a motorcycle stolen from a Hells Angel.
Like a modern Hope and Crosby, Frederick and Fredericka get involved in adventures large and small: washing dishes; stealing art pieces; navigating the Mississippi; impersonating dentists; fighting a forest fire; and eventually becoming entangled in a campaign to elect a remarkably stupid man to the office of U.S. president.
“Frederick and Fredericka” is an amusing romp through modern history: equal parts slapstick and satire, with the author tipping his hat to Mark Twain, “Don Quixote” and even Monty Python when wielding his humorous prose. The only criticism that can be leveled at the book, as with many tomes these days, is the lack of proper editing. Many of the scenes go on a bit long, which can be tough on comic timing.
That said, it must be noted that Helprin’s writerly eye is always spot-on when delivering a barbed sentence or two (or three) about America and its culture, as he does here while depicting a conversation between a presidential candidate and one of his aides:
“‘The African-American vote.’
“‘What’s that?’
“The aide blinked. ‘Well, you know, the votes cast by African-Americans.’
“‘What are they?’
“‘They’re those people who are very dark?’ another aide said, tentatively, and in the manner of the American generation that could not make a statement except in the interrogative, not even their names (‘Hello? My name is Britney Hitler? I’m, like, very glad to meet you? My grandfather was, like, the Fuhrer? In, like, Germany? OK?’).”
Anyone with an appreciation of language – and how the last generation or two often mutilates the English language – will love that passage. And readers with a broad, wide-ranging sense of humor, and an ability to laugh at themselves and their own foibles, will enjoy “Freddy and Fredericka” immensely.
Dorman T. Shindler, a freelancer from Missouri, contributes regularly to several national magazines and newspapers.
Freddy Freddy and Fredericka
By Mark Helprin
The Penguin Press, 553 pages, $27.95
