Freddy and Simon the Dictator

Detective, politician, ambassador to the Martians-whatever the situation requests, Freddy fits the bill. There's never a dull moment for Freddy and the other animals on Bean Farm, who are "as fast-mouthed and sharply funny as the Marx Brothers, as aphoristic and gimlet-eyed as astute as Noel Coward, and yet always affectionate and forgiving" (The Globe and Mail). These beloved classics-childhood favorites of Overlook publisher Peter Mayer-are available now for the first time as Overlook paperbacks, as well as in handsome hardcover editions. Freddy the Pig, the "Renaissance Pig" (The New York Times) of Bean Farm, is back to thrill his fans of all ages in facsimile editions of these all-American children's classics. In Freddy and Simon The Dictator, warning had been printed in the Bean Home News and the Centerboro Guardian, but nobody paid much attention to them. An animal revolt? "Preposterous!" said the Beans and all the other humans. But it's true-and Simon the rat is determined to turn the farm into a dictatorship. Mr. Camphor has been persuaded (much against his better judgment) to run for governor of New York State, Herb Garble shows up, Jinx defects to the enemy (or does he?), and Freddy-that inimitable pig!-goes to work as the political boss of Otesaraga County. Freddy and Simon the Dictator is classic Brooks, in which the master of barnyard hilarity has a lot of fun satirizing politics and-especially-politicians.