Frederick Manfred

By Freya Manfred

Book Overview

In this poignant memoir, poet-novelist Freya Manfred recounts the artistic life and death of her father, the prolific and highly regarded author Frederick Manfred. Using family letters and passages from her father's novels as well as her own memoirs, she explores their powerful personal and literary relationship, which spanned nearly five decades. Freya manfred described what it meant to be the daughter of a strong-willed man who was dedicated, sometimes at great cost, to a creative life. Her story starts with the tender power and beauty of his funeral in 1994, then moves back to a clear-eyed and often humorous depiction of their home life, which was shaped by her father's insistence on the quiet and solitude necessary for his writing. She remembers the shift in their relationship as her literary career blossomed and he added the roles of mentor and friend. Finally, she shares frank and loving detail of her family's struggle to help her father die well.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 087351372X
• ISBN13: 9780873513722
• Release Date: May 1999
• Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press
• Length: 211 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A very interesting story

This wise and loving book begins with the funeral of Frederick Manfred, the novelist. Written in lean, spare prose by his daughter, the poet Freya Manfred, it moves by a series of flashbacks through almost five decades of her keen observations of her father. It is interesting to see that her writing style is quite different than her father's more ornamented style, although he was her mentor and writer friend. You'll enjoy reading one of Frederick Manfred's books at the same time that you read Frederich Manfred: A Daughter Remembers. I chose to read Lord Grizzly, which some people say is the best of his many books.