Freddy and Fredericka

By: Mark Helprin

Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie

Length: 25 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Best-selling, critically acclaimed author Mark Helprin's work has drawn favorable comparisons to an elite group of literary legends, including James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Edgar Allan Poe, and Thomas Mann. Helprin's sheer comic brilliance shines in this ingenious farce.

Freddy is the bright but aloof Prince of Wales. Fredericka is his blonde, beautiful, and beloved wife. When they stumble into a public relations nightmare with no easy solution, they must make amends by serving an unusual penance. Literally dropped from a plane into a mysterious place called Hoboken, New Jersey, Freddy and Fredericka are given one task. They must reconquer America!

A thinly veiled satire of what might have happened if Princess Diana had survived, Freddy and Fredericka is an imaginative gem full of clever wordplay and wicked political jabs.

©2005 Mark Helprin (P)2005 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Helprin's entertaining new novel [is] a rollicking picaresque saga that reads as though Evelyn Waugh had put the movies Roman Holiday and Duck Soup into a blender along with some old copies of People magazine and a couple of Mark Twain's travelogues, and seasoned the resulting confection with generous helpings of his own black comedy....Mr. Helprin has constructed a perfect showcase for his heretofore underused gift of humor, and in doing so he has produced a delightful romp of a book." (The New York Times)
"Irresistibly mischievous." (Booklist)
"Wildly imaginative, adventure-filled, clever." (Publishers Weekly)
"[Mark Helprin] frequently astounds with the freshness of voice and the oddly soaring majesty of this...comic call for greatness in a mediocre era." (Kirkus Reviews)

great great great

I’m not particularly intrigued by British royalty. I don’t know much about the lineages or the difference between a duke and an earl (should those be capitalized??) But I do know I loved this book. I really loved it. True, I love pretty much all of Mark Helprin’s books, but I sort of thought I wouldn’t be too crazy about this one for some reason. I actually even tried reading it once, but it slid to the middle of the bedside book pile before I’d made it to page 50. I picked it up again after a friend scolded me and was ashamed to have put it down the first time. I can’t remember exactly why, but I did have to struggle just a bit to get past the first section. I think the characters can be so comical that it took some time for them to be something more than just cartoons. Freddy’s serious moments, so wonderful and profound, are made even more so juxtaposed against his absurdity. Their trip through America, and the changes and growth and awakenings and adventures, is not to be missed.

Fabulously Funny!

The narrator, Robert Ian Mackenzie, made a wonderful book fabulous! The story of Freddy and Fredericka is funny - so much so that I continually laughed out loud during many sections. Mackenzie made funny scenes even funnier. I HIGHLY recommend this book. One caution, there are a number of curse words - so if you are offended by F***, S***, and more - skip this book.

Freddy and Fredericka

After listening to the first forty-five minutes, I thought it was just going to be subtle, boring, and looong. I gave it a bit more of a chance though, and am so glad that I did! I love the narrator and definitely think that he brings out the many nuances of the story. Albeit a bit of a fluff ending, but the body of the story switches between hilarious dialogue and nice descriptions of the surroundings and background story. All in all a great buy.

wanting more...

my husband and I absolutely loved this book it was a joy to listen to!

good, but not perfect

If you have read Mark Helprin before, you know what to expect: flights of fantasy inhabiting and enlightening the everyday world, flashes of humor, and, now and again, startling luminous prose of a beauty to rival Shakespeare or Thomas Wolfe. I enjoyed Freddy and Frederika, but it is not Helprin's best. The plot is weak -- it is more a series of amusing incidents than one coherent story. Much of the humor is in the form of "Who's on first" dialogs, but because of the hybrid format (a work originally written and now being read) these don't work as well as they ought. Too much was explained, diluting the laughs. And the narrator was not great -- it is particularly irritating that everyone has an English accent, even though most of the story takes place in the USA.

Still, sub-par Helprin is head and shoulders above the best that most authors produce.

Helperin's best since Winter's Talents

Funny, poignant and created by out of the box imagination. Narrator was perfectly cast for this book.

1st 6 hrs alone are worth the credit

The first 6 hours contain the funniest material I've ever heard/read--very slapstick, but literary slapstick, if that is a category. After that set up, the pace slows (it's a picaresque novel, afterall.) Along the journey, there is lots of word play, some very clever, some just silly and in a few cases repetitive, but entertaining.

It's like a Wodehouse farce (first 6 hours) then a salad of elements similar to Sue Townsend, Jasper Fforde and Pirseg's Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, spiced with Helprin's own style. The narrator's comic timing more than made up for an occasional odd accent- I think the narrator knew his range (still quite broad) and stuck to it.

It's not a profound political farce (the usual critique, just a bit more imaginative) but if you listen carefully, neither is it a defence of monarchy as some reviews suggest. Might be more enjoyable for citizens of the Commonwealth, though, overall, it's very flattering to the U.S.

Both elevating and funny!

Would you consider the audio edition of Freddy and Fredericka to be better than the print version?

I think perhaps that the audible version of the book will be best for most people as the narrator does such a fabulous job with the complicated nuances in the text. Additionally it is wonderful for American ears, like my own, to hear this book - in particular- read in "the Queen's English". Well read!!

What did you like best about this story?

I appreciated the humor and the depth of the message. It is simply a wonderful story and one which, believe it or not, was thought provoking! Coincidentally, I was listening to the Abolition of Man (CS Lewis) just before I listened to this one. The author of Freddy and Fredericka manages to convey some of the same important issues but in a brilliantly palatable fashion - easy enough for me to understand! In addition to the more serious message was the funny, even very silly, story in which the humor was so VERY well delivered by the narrator. I laughed and laughed and laughed!

What does Robert Ian Mackenzie bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I doubt that anyone other than Robert Ian MacKenzie could have delivered the dialougue and humor of this book in a better way. If a performance could be perfect then this one is! I am searching out other books he has narrated now as a result of listening to this one. In this case, I recommend listening rather than reading this book.

Who was the most memorable character of Freddy and Fredericka and why?

All of the essential characters are well developed in this book and contribute to the story.The author has accomplished the difficult task of refining the almost ridiculous and somewhat "raw material" in both Freddy and Fredericka into admirable and even imitable people.

Any additional comments?

I listened to this book twice in a row, something I have never done before with another audible book. This story is delivered with depth, sensitivity, attention to detail and of course, humor. I loved it! Prepare to laugh! Mark Helprin is an extraordinarily talented and brilliant author.

Definitely Worth It!

Have you ever sat through a movie that had a few dumb bits, but paid off with beautifully clever or amazingly funny moments?

That's what I found with this book. Perhaps it could have used a bit more editing, but honestly, I'd like to "read" it again in print because I think there is more to the book than what comes across in the listening.

I couldn't help thinking of the cliched phrase, "from the ridiculous to the sublime" while listening to the book. There are moments of stilted, silliness combined with passages of pure genius.

Thank you Mark Helprin! I still can't get over the word "opheliated" - I just love it.

Would make a great screenplay.

One of my favorite reads. The narration is excellent and I would look for other books narrated by Mackenzie.