Hjalmar Bergman's Jac the Clown is a classic novel, the last and widely judged the most innovative and even the best of an author considered to be "one of the three portal figures" in Swedish literature in the first half of this century. Bergman's own experiences as a Hollywood script writer form the background of the book, and his unusual blending of the comic and tragic informs almost every page.

The novel - amusing, poignant, flippant, profound - tells the story of Benjamin ("Benbe") Borck, whose relatives loan him money for a trip to America to visit their famous artist cousin, the "clown" Jac Tracbac, alias Jonathan Borck, the alter ego of Bergman.

Benbe's trip is bizarre, almost surreal at times, as is his illustrious cousin, who tries to break out of the commercial exploitation of Hollywood and ends up in his "catechism" at the novel's close, making public the origins and purpose of his art. His art, which depends on and occasions an audience's laughter, springs from the fear and anguish that are central to the human condition. It reflects that condition but also gives occasion for both children and madmen to laugh at the terror.

The novel became Bergman's, the clown's, manifesto on his own art, and Bergman himself appropriately read the original serialized version on the radio to the Swedish public before his death in 1931.