Two Hitlers And A Marilyn by Adam Andrusier

 

Two Hitlers And A Marilyn by Adam Andrusier.

Published 8th July 2021 by Headline.

From the cover of the book:

"I'd managed to puncture a hole between our universe and the parallel one where all the celebrities lived."

Adam Andrusier spent his childhood in pursuit of autographs. After writing to every famous person he could think of, from Frank Sinatra to Colonel Gaddafi, he soon jostled with the paparazzi at stage doors and came face-to-face with the most famous people on the planet.

For young Adam, autographs were a backstage pass to a world beyond his chaotic family home in Pinner, and his Holocaust-obsessed father. They provided a special connection to a world of glamour and significance lying just beyond his reach.

But as Adam turned from collector to dealer, learning how to spot a fake from the real deal, he discovered that in life, as in autographs, not everything is as it first appears. When your obsession is a search for the authentic, what happens when you discover fraudulence in your own family?

Two Hitlers and a Marilyn is a hilarious and moving account of discovering that idols are mortals. It's a story of growing up, forgiveness and discovering a place in the world.

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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!

Two Hitlers and a Marilyn is available to buy now in hardback, ebook and audio formats from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Louise Swannell at Headline Books for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Adam Andrusier is a writer and a professional dealer of rare, valuable autographs. He grew up in Pinner, studied music at Cambridge and completed the creative writing MA at UEA. He lives in North West London with his wife and son.