Proudly Presents the Critically Acclaimed:
I Sleep in Hitler's Room
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Reviewed by Bruce Bawer in:
"It's a book in a category all its own own—deeply sobering, depressing even, in its observations of the darker side of Germany, yet at the same time so chatty and engaging and laugh-out-loud funny that it's hard to put down. Tenenbom is an acute observer of his fellowman, but also a born entertainer, a comedian, who approaches his interview subjects—of whom there are dozens, ranging from leading political and cultural figures to folks he runs into on the street—as a combination inquisitor and tummler . . . A stunning account . . . Tenenbom is brilliant . . . He has a gifted playwright’s fascination with people and an unwillingness to reduce them to their opinions. He's also, as noted, blessed with an extraordinary sense of humor, and indeed it's plainly his humor that gets him through it all, that enables him to press on and even find enjoyment in so much of what he experiences in Germany–this, despite the apparent ubiquity of anti-Semitism, which, if not the book’s sole topic, is the thread running through it."
Reviewed by "Spengler" in:
"Tuvia Tenenbom comes off as a Jewish Hunter S Thompson, describing cringing encounters in Germany that strip away the veneer of sanity from his subjects . . . Every encounter with an interview subject is an experimental drama, redolent sometimes of Pinter or Beckett, more often of Brecht or the Marx Brothers . . . To understand Germans, one has to learn their language and live with them – or read Tenenbom’s book."
More Reviews & Write-Ups:
From the first Staged Reading, April 2012
This is a Jewish story, told the way Jewish stories are told: with biting humor. On the face of it, this book is a travelogue, a journal by a Jew from New York traveling in today's Germany. A very funny story indeed.
But this is just part of the story, a little part of it. For "I Sleep in Hitler's Room" is also a book about modern anti-Semitism, about hate that refuses to disappear, about a disease that won't get cured and a curse that won't let go. All told in the clearest of style and most amazing of humor. But this is not fiction. From beginning to end "I Sleep in Hitler's Room" is a true tale, a tale about a country that created the Holocaust and a story about a continent that moves in the direction of creating another. The target group, as in the last round, is the same: the "Jews."
Why is Europe, the cradle of our civilization, so obsessed with Jews? Read "I Sleep in Hitler's Room" to find the answer. "I Sleep in Hitler's Room" will make you think, make you worry, make you cry, and make you laugh out loud. It is a book you will never forget. Ever. Buy it today. And run to tell all your friends.
• • •
Let's hope, says Frank, that "the Nigger American president takes care of the Jews of Israel, who steal the water from the Palestinians, and stops those Jews once and for all."
He likes to sing sometimes. He sings for me a little song, a romantic tune. Let me share it with you: "We have crematoriums, and in each crematorium there's a little Jew . . ."
He smiles as he sings it. He has a good voice, by the way.
And I think: Probably that's how my family was led to death. With a song and a smile.
—from I SLEEP IN HITLER'S ROOM
Traveling across Germany and seeking out that elusive quality that is the German character, playwright and journalist Tuvia Tenenbom wonders whether he has identified it in any one of several striking social phenomena—the proclivity of Germans to join clubs and group activities; how their aptitude for visual design shapes their architecture and their daily life; how their daily life is suffused with soccer and beer, the omnipresent beverage for all occasions; how they proudly self-define themselves by their achievements in precision technology; and, what is most disturbing to this son of Holocaust survivors, how their crushing awareness of their dark history coexists with virulent anti-Semitism and a stubborn obsession with Israel. Tenenbom integrates deep seriousness with the most lighthearted comic touch in this critical but affectionate look at both left and right in contemporary German politics and society. Listen in on his meetings with leaders in German industry and media, including former chancellor Helmut Schmidt, as well as with scores of private citizens whose everyday conversation Tenenbom ponders even as he gently teases them.
Looking for a great Book Club Suggestion? Thirsty for a fresh, new literary voice? Try "I Sleep in Hitler's Room," a book so different. Relax safely at your home with this great book in hand and fly to places you never dreamt existed.
"I Sleep in Hitler's Room," published by The Jewish Theater of New York, will be adapted for onstage performances. First staged reading took place on April 17, 2012 at the Triad theater, 158 W. 72nd Street, NYC.
