Sweet Dreams (Valancourt 20th Century Classics)

By Michael Frayn

Book Overview

'A man sits in his car at the traffic lights, waiting for them to go green...'

Heaven, the Book of Revelation tells us, is a city of pure gold, 1,500 miles high, and decorated in sapphire, amethyst, and emerald. According to the Koran, it is peopled with immortal youths and bashful virgins, and there are jeweled couches on which to recline and enjoy food and drink. But wouldn't most of us feel a little out of our element in such a place? What about a Heaven for ordinary, modern people?

Howard Baker is waiting at a traffic light when suddenly he finds himself in a strange and wondrous city where he can fly, speak any language, and even design the Matterhorn. As we accompany him on his tour of Heaven, we discover a place with limitless possibilities for leisure and enjoyment but one which also presents moral and intellectual challenges and possibilities for personal growth - the perfect heaven for a decent, respectable, professional man like Howard Baker ...

Long regarded as a classic in Great Britain, Michael Frayn's brilliantly funny fantasy Sweet Dreams (1973) returns to print in the U.S. for the first time in decades in this edition, which features a new introduction by the author.

"Frayn is an impeccable writer ... his novel is a kind of Candide - a vividly contemporary Candide - full of the most serious high comedy and the most enormous belly laughs." - New Yorker

"Frayn has a most unusual talent. His books seem so deceptively simple, but they linger in the mind for years, and can be re-read with the greatest pleasure. Sweet Dreams is no exception." - Margaret Drabble, New York Times Book Review

"May go down in history as one of England's special contributions to the twentieth century." - Times Literary Supplement

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1941147968
• ISBN13: 9781941147962
• Release Date: February 2024
• Publisher: Valancourt Books
• Length: 140 Pages
• Weight: 0.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A heavenly delight

Sweet Dreams has long been one of my favorite books, one of the few I've ever cared to reread. The opening section, in which the protagonist seamlessly glides into what we come to understand is heaven, and then discovers its many delights (being able to fly if you want to...or not, 5-star restaurants) is without equal in anything else I've read: elegant, light, perfectly executed, completely delightful. Then, as the story develops, the protagonist goes through apprenticeship, love, early success and fame, midlife crisis, and resolution. It's always done with a light and comic touch, yet deals with profound questions. How Frayn was able to conceive of the story and carry it off is remarkable. It's a crime that this book is not in print, particularly when writers like Anthony Burgess and Margaret Drabble have praised it as one of the best British novels of the late 20th century. Hunt for a used copy--your search will be well repaid!

Possibly one of the funniest books you'll read

Frayn paints a hilarious and riotous dreamscape featuring a loveable hero who gets to realise his every potential and more, from being a witty dinner-party conversationalist to finding out that he can fly...Delightful and whimsical, I've yet to come across anyone who has not enjoyed this book.