Understanding Michael Frayn

Best known for his play Noises Off, Michael Frayn has garnered widespread critical acclaim and a number of literary honors for his work as a journalist, playwright, novelist, philosopher, and translator. Beginning with Frayn's humorous journalism, which was vital to the "satire boom" of the 1960s, Merritt Moseley assesses the entirety of the writer's literary contributions, including his works of philosophy and autobiography. One of the first scholars to consider Frayn seriously as a novelist, Moseley provides careful readings of his fiction, including The Tin Man, Sweet Dreams, and Headlong. Moseley also explores Frayn's development as a playwright, beginning in 1970 with the critically panned The Two of Us.