Alexandra V. (bookmark) reviewed on + 30 more book reviews
[Back cover]
In this hilarious and ingenious novel set in 1912, young Adolph Hitler, age 23, comes to Liverpool, penniless, traveling with false papers, and perpetually stalked by imaginary enemies. His half-brother, Alois, who works as a hotel waiter and a salesman, has convinced him to assist in building a commercial empire based on the newly invented safety razor. Adolph moves in with Alois, his Irish wife, and their infant son and promptly inconveniences them: He is difficult, depressed, lies for days on the sofa, bungles the simplest jobs, and has not yet found himself.
In episodes of disarming comedy, at every turn young Adolph becomes involved in ludicrous and embarrassing situations so much so that he would never, for the rest of his life, mention his laughably awkward visit to England. Taking one of history's odder incidents with her considerable imagination and wicked sense of humor, Beryl Bainbridge makes Adolph Hitler as absurd a figure in words as Charlie Chaplin made him on film.
In this hilarious and ingenious novel set in 1912, young Adolph Hitler, age 23, comes to Liverpool, penniless, traveling with false papers, and perpetually stalked by imaginary enemies. His half-brother, Alois, who works as a hotel waiter and a salesman, has convinced him to assist in building a commercial empire based on the newly invented safety razor. Adolph moves in with Alois, his Irish wife, and their infant son and promptly inconveniences them: He is difficult, depressed, lies for days on the sofa, bungles the simplest jobs, and has not yet found himself.
In episodes of disarming comedy, at every turn young Adolph becomes involved in ludicrous and embarrassing situations so much so that he would never, for the rest of his life, mention his laughably awkward visit to England. Taking one of history's odder incidents with her considerable imagination and wicked sense of humor, Beryl Bainbridge makes Adolph Hitler as absurd a figure in words as Charlie Chaplin made him on film.
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