The Fly Trap

Fredrik Sjöberg's Swedish bestseller about summer, islands, freedom and boundaries.'The light, the warmth, the smells, the mist, the birdsong - the moths. Who can sleep? Who wants to?'Fredrik Sjöberg finds happiness in the little things. Millions of them, in fact. This beguiling bestseller is his unique meditation on collecting hoverflies. It is also about living on a remote Swedish island, blissful long summer nights, lost loves, unexpected treasures, art, nature, slowness, and how freedom can come from the things we least expect.'Full of charm, a book about how to find meaning in life' Melissa Harrison, The Times, Books of the Year'I often return to The Fly Trap, it remains close to my heart. The minute observations from nature that reveal sudden insights into one's life. Sometimes I almost think that he wrote it for me' Tomas Tranströmer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature'Charming, witty and original' Patrick Barkham, Guardian 'Nature writing that can laugh at itself, a real tonic' Gregory Day, Sydney Morning Herald'Delightful, at once informative and often humorously digressive . . . a humane man of wide-ranging curiosity, Sjöberg writes with infectious passion' Paul Binding IndependentFredrik Sjöberg collects hoverflies on the island Runmarö, in the archipelago east of Stockholm. He is also a literary critic, translator, cultural columnist and the author of several books including The Art of Flight and The Raisin King, which form a trilogy with The Fly Trap.

Charming, witty and original . . . a sly challenge to virtually every contemporary orthodoxy (Patrick Barkham Guardian)

Its joy lies in Sjöberg's loose-limbed prose . . . at once whimsical and yet laden with erudition and a deep feeling for the natural world and our place in it (Financial Times)

Delightful, at once informative and often humorously digressive . . . a humane man of wide-ranging curiosity, Sjöberg writes with infectious passion (Independent)

Subtle, convincing . . . Sjöberg thrives in the indistinct boundary between science and literature (New Scientist)

A quirky tapestry . . . an enjoyable if wayward tale (Ecologist)