Hitler parody 'Look Who's Back' comes to the US
A controversial novel first released in Europe has Adolf Hitler at its center. Now that book is coming to America.
As we previously reported, the book by Timur Vermes titled 鈥淓r Ist Wieder Da,鈥� or 鈥淟ook Who鈥檚 Back,鈥� imagines Adolf Hitler living in the present day and reacting to such developments as e-mail and talk shows. The novel was first published in Germany and was released in English in the UK in 2014.聽
The book has of course already been met with mixed reactions in Europe. German newspaper聽聽wrote of it, 鈥淲e laugh, but it鈥檚 a laugh that sticks in the throat.鈥� Boyd Tonkin of the said that the book 鈥渟coots blithely around a fathomless abyss of bad taste鈥�. [It's a satire of] the blank ironies of amoral and fad-crazy multi-platform media. For parallels, think Sacha Baron Cohen and Chris Morris.鈥澛� But writer Steven Poole noted that 鈥渋n Britain we鈥檝e been making fun of Hitler for decades鈥�. he seems a cutely domesticated Adolf.鈥�
Now 鈥淟ook鈥� is set to arrive in the US, with a publication date set for May 5. One review, that of Janet Maslin for the , has been released already.
鈥淭here鈥檇 be no need to discuss the acceptability of laughter if 鈥楲ook Who鈥檚 Back鈥� weren鈥檛 desperately funny,鈥� Maslin wrote. 鈥淏ut Mr. Vermes has created an ingenious comedy of errors in which the jokes are either on Hitler鈥檚 misapprehensions about the modern world or the modern world鈥檚 refusal to take him at face value鈥�. This book isn鈥檛 sharp-fanged, but it鈥檚 able to remain both humorous and disturbing after the initial jokiness has passed鈥�. Chalk up the great popularity of 鈥楲ook Who鈥檚 Back鈥� to its author鈥檚 basic act of provocation and to the highly polished sitcom sensibility that works so well here.鈥�
It remains to be seen how the rest of America will react.
