For most of the third quarter of the twentieth century, Per Olof Sundman was unquestionably one of the most important Swedish prose writers. His first volume of short stories, Jägarna (The Hunters, 1957), was the first debut collection since World War II to sell out its first edition, and he achieved international recognition with his documentary novels Expeditionen (1962; translated as The Expedition, 1967) and Ingenjör Andrées luftfärd (Engineer Andrée's Air Voyage, 1967; translated as The Flight of the Eagle, 1970). His productivity waned after his election to the Swedish Parliament in 1968 and in particular after his inclusion in the Swedish Academy in 1975, but interest in his work remained high for at least another decade and a half. His last novel, Berättelsen om Såm (The Story of Såm, 1977), disappointed an expectant public, and the critical response, coupled...