Tausche zwei Hitler gegen eine Marilyn: Roman

by Adam Andrusier

»Schon wieder die Nazis?«, fragt Adams Mutter, wenn der Vater bereits beim Frühstück einen leidenschaftlichen Vortrag über die Verbrechen des Dritten Reichs hält. Oder im Skiurlaub dem deutschen Ehepaar stolz seine Postkartensammlung zerstörter Synagogen präsentiert. Dass er die Familie dann auch noch regelmäßig zum Israelischen Volkstanz schleift, bringt nicht nur die Mutter zur Verzweiflung. Adam jedoch weiß sich zu Eine echte Berühmtheit zieht in ihren Londoner Vorort, und Adam ergattert ein Autogramm. Bald schreibt er von Sinatra bis Mandela alles an, was Rang und Namen hat, und verfällt einer Leidenschaft, die alles andere in den Schatten stellt. Eine Komödie mit Widerhaken über das Erwachsenwerden, jüdischen Familienirrwitz und das unbedingte Verlangen nach Freiheit.

Genres: Memoir

338 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 13, 2023

Reviews

[Larnacouer de SH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ay durun bi’ dakika! İmza avcısı mı dediniz?

Anılar ve büyüme hikayelerini okumaktan zaten keyif alırım ancak bu beklemediğim imza avcılığı detayı kitabın keyfini daha bi’ katladı bana kalırsa.
Zira başarmak kadar başarısızlıklarda hayatın bir parçası ve bunu okura oldukça samimi bir şekilde aktarmış Adam Andjdksk yazamayacağım şimdi allasen.

Bu yüzden umduğumdan keyifli, kolay okunan ve akıcı bir kitap oldu İki Hitler Bir Marilyn. Özellikle “kafam hiçbir şey götürmüyor” dediğiniz zamanların birinde okumanızı öneririm.


(Elvis bölümü dkdmkd 🥲)

[Carly Findlay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book popped up on an audible suggestion. It’s a memoir by a man who used to collect autographs.

It appealed to me because I love fandom, but Adam’s collection and dealing of autographs was not fandom as much as it was a transactional exchange. He recounts stories of meeting celebrities- most of them were rude and disinterested.

It was really a coming of age story - growing up in an eccentric Jewish household, puberty, finding out his father’s affair, and forging a career as an autograph dealer. At times it was quite vulgar - especially the way he wrote about pornography and Monica Lewinsky, and I did find the mentions of people's race a bit othering. Still, the Jewish perspective, particularly in respect to obtaining Hitler's autograph and on selling it was an interesting one.

This was t a terrible book, I just don’t think it was very interesting, or even necessary to be such a long book. I hadn’t heard of Adam until this book, and I wonder what else he’s done.

[Sarah Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A witty account of the author’s childhood, the start of his Autograph collecting and how he progressed to make a career from it. Who knew there was so much competition between autograph collectors, or the skill and knowledge needed to sort the fakes and the secretarial signings from the real thing.

I was given a copy of Two Hitlers and a Marilyn by NetGalley and the authors in return for an unbiased review.

[Craig Hannington · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the perks of having to self isolate is the chance to read a book in a day.

Fantastic enjoyable read

[Kathrin Olzog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Autogrammjäger Adam Andrusier erzählt, wie er an seine verschiedenen Autogramme gekommen ist und kombiniert dies mit seiner eigenen Familiengeschichte. Lustig und unterhaltsam.
Note: 3+

[ɐɹɥǝz ★ dagustun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected but it was okay. It failed to give what it offered in the back of the book for me.

[Fides · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die Leser begleiten Adam Andrusier in seiner Biografie von seiner Kindheit bis ins frühe Erwachsenenalter. Schon früh entdeckt er seine Leidenschaft für das Sammeln von Autogrammen diverser Persönlichkeiten, später macht er diese Leidenschaft sogar zu seinem Beruf und verdient sein Geld als Autogrammhändler.

Mir gefällt der Schreibstil von Adam Andrusier gut, er schreibt sehr bildlich, mit einer guten Prise trockenem Humor. Die Kapitel sind kurz, so dass man gut vorankommt, es gab keine “mühsame Passage” bei der ich kaum vorwärts kam mit dem Lesen.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two Hitlers and a Marilyn is a fascinating memoir from Adam Andrusier about growing up in an unconventional Jewish household in Pinner, with an insurance broker father obsessed by Israeli dancing and collecting postcards of synagogues destroyed by the Nazis, a sculptress mother who seems at a loss with how she has found herself married to such a man, and his older sister Ruth equally keen to find some normality in life.

Adam's young life is chaotic, as the family are swept along on an absurd tide of his father Adrian's passions, but amid this disarray, Adam develops an interest in collecting autographs that allows him to escape his reality - one that is destined to take over his whole life. He soon finds himself writing to celebrities all over the world in pursuit of rare and desirable scribbles, even if he has never heard of them himself, and is inaugurated into a weird and wonderful world where everything is not quite as it appears on the surface - ironically very much like his own life.

Ostensibly, as hinted at by the delicious title and novel chapter headings, this appears to be a story about an autograph hunter and dealer (and oh boy, did I learn a lot about the subject), but in effect it is actually the most intriguing of coming of age tales. Dovetailing beautifully with a myriad of hilarious and embarrassing scenes from Adam's life, there are ones which will cut you to the emotional quick, and they all serve to delve deep into themes about family, truth, and the pivotal moments when you come to see things for what they really are.

While Andrusier brilliantly explores the meaning of obsession and how this can take over your life at the expense of your personal relationships, it is the way he examines the process of looking beneath the glamour to the real nitty gritty that lies under the surface that is the most compelling - showing parallels in his own life as he comes to learn the truth about his abilities, his profession, his parents and grandparents, and what he wants from his own relationships.

At times, I was reminded of Adrian Mole by Andrusier's easy style of writing and the engaging mix of laughter, pithy remarks, and poignant reflections, but the fact that this is a memoir, not fictional, and the combination of love and forgiveness that shine out from the moments he shares in these pages make this something really substantial and profoundly touching despite the light tone.

I cannot recommend this hilarious and poignant memoir enough, especially if you like them on the quirky side, or have ever been tempted to stand outside a stage door to ask for an autograph!

[Andrew Robins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book - read it after I saw David Baddiel saying it was good. Read it in a day, he was right, it is good.

It reminded me a little of Broken Greek by Pete Paphides, only with autographs not music, Pinner not Birmingham and a Jewish family rather than a Greek one.

I am more or less the same age as the author, a few years older, and the story of growing up in the 70s and 80s was very familiar to me.

The author's father sounds like the most interesting but frustrating man imaginable - collections of postcards of synagogues destroyed by the nazis, forever taking photographs, the Israeli dance obsession.

I knew I'd enjoy it when I read this line on the very first page.

"In fact, what Dad mostly looked at was his collection of postcards of synagogues destroyed by the Nazis. Over bowls of Frosties my sister, Ruth, and I got minute-by-minute accounts of Kristallnacht, drawn from our father's vast library of books on Hitler, the Third Reich and genocide. Our games of Twister were interrupted by the death toll at Treblinka."

it is very well written, hugely engaging, touching and very funny. Read it.

[Lauren pavey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a little bit of a strange one for me as the subject of autograph hunting was a topic that I knew very little of. However autograph hunting was only one aspect of this story and I found the family dynamic far more interesting with the autographs being more a way of tracking the book than the primary focus .
It was a coming of age story about a young man which is brutally honest and very witty.

It was an easy to read book and far more enjoyable than I initially expected it to be.

It was very engaging, funny and very touching .
I would highly recommend

[Chris Organ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story of Adam’s life and times set alongside his autograph hunting / career which read like an abbreviated diary . Having each chapter featuring the quest for a particular autograph ( which most of the time ended in failure) worked well and the Elvis catastrophe was vey touching . Enjoyable

[Rach · Rating 4 out of 5]

A biography that tells the life of the author by starting each chapter about a signature that he has or wanted.
Adam is a collector who started at a very young age and eventually turned it into a career after he left university.

It kept tempting me back with each chapter heading, Elvis hello!

4 Stars

I received a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Gaynor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny, interesting and thoroughly entertaining read. Who knew autograph hunting was this absorbing and, at times, cut-throat? Adam Andruisier introduces us to a whole new world of dealers - whether they're trading stamps, coins or autographs, the characters jump from the page and turn this coming of age tale into a great story.

[Julie Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining coming of age memoir by Adam Andrusier, a young Jewish autograph dealer and would-be concert pianist.

I found the whole autograph scene really interesting and that at the end he realises that the market for autographs is unlikely to be sustainable as the current trend is for people to have selfies of themselves with celebrities rather than collecting autographs.

A great insight into the relationship he has with his parents, particularly his eccentric father, grandparents and girlfriend, it was all very touching.

I will recommend this in the shop.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining read.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hatte ich ich mir mehr erhofft, plänkelte dann aber nur so vor sich hin. Schade …

[carport · Rating 4 out of 5]

sometimes life is just life. A beautiful and very frustrating story at times which comes a little too close at depicting the mediocrity and wonder of real life

[Kat Noble · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrusier describes how he became an autograph dealer while sharing his coming-of-age and his childhood. He has a funny and engaging style, with a witty and sharp use of description and situational comedy.

The book is broken into chapters concerning a certain celebrity, that offers a basis for a further expansion and discussion about his life and a reflection on his past. The book covers his early teens through to his late twenties, and his ambivalent feelings not only towards autograph hunting, but also toward his father, who was a collector of postcards, and a man that is hard to pin down and whose actions often caused much of the drama and catalyst in the family life.

The business of autographs, trading and acquiring, is explained in detail and was an industry I had no real knowledge of before this book. I was aware of people collecting autographs, but not of the financial valuing, selling, forgeries and trading.

The people who work in this industry are often shown as a little strange, in that their passion appears to be quite niche areas or for quite disturbing topics, but their motivations for interest in their area are often unknown, as Andrusier has a variety of clients and does not usually get to ask them why, or need to know, he needs to source them what they need. It does lead to certain conflicted feelings, such as whether to handle Hitler or serial killer artefacts. Delightful read.

[Brian Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of repetition for me.