One of Norway's most prolific and popular contemporary writers, Knut Faldbakken is also the Norwegian novelist who has had the greatest success in the English-speaking world. While the reading public has shown a great appetite for Faldbakken's work, however, his reputation among critics lags significantly behind those of some of his peers. One possible reason for the disparity between Faldbakken's popularity with the public and his critical reception is that in most of his novels he eschews any kind of formal experimentation, placing himself squarely within the realistic and psychological literary aesthetics that have dominated Norwegian literature since the beginning of the twentieth century. Also, his typical literary universe is one in which meaning and values are clearly demarcated; thus, most of his novels do not lead the reader to question received ideas. Additionally, Faldbakken's novels frequently take up current issues, causing some critics to accuse him of...