Two Hitlers and a Marilyn: An autograph hunter's escape from suburbia

Description

"I'd managed to puncture a hole between our universe and the parallel one where all the celebrities lived." 'The zaniest book I've read in eons. Andrusier is a fresh new voice and more importantly he's funny as hell.' GARY SHTEYNGART 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. 'I love this book. It is wise, funny, surprising, touching, and wonderful company.' JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

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.

I love this book. It is wise, funny, surprising, touching, and wonderful company * Jonathan Safran Foer * Adam Andrusier has created that rare thing: a memoir which delivers the coming-of-age but also reaches far beyond. The writing here about family is excellent, the characters and scenes memorable, but from the first they're engaged also in a history. Two Hitlers and a Marilyn takes in the world as widely as possible, always searching for significance and connection * David Vann * A comic and poignant memoir about growing up in the suburbs, fandom, stalking Ronnie Barker, and much more. A funny, moving read * Zadie Smith * At times hilarious, at others heartbreaking, Andrusier's memoir provides a fascinating insight into obsession * John Boyne * Madcap and thoroughly engaging, Adam Andrusier's vivid memoir brings to mind the early Philip Roth. This is a book of antic comedy that resonates and intrigues * Lisa Appignanesi * A fabulously interesting book and incredibly pleasurable to read. Very funny and strangely entrancing. It is about so much, but effortlessly * Adam Phillips * Hilarious and moving. * David Baddiel * Beautifully written * Maureen Lipman * Andrusier has a genuine comic gift and he's remarkably technically adept. You could easily assume he had been writing this sort of stuff for years. * Daily Mail * Offering a warm, witty and poignant glimpse into the past, Two Hitlers and a Marilyn is a memoir of fandoms, forgiveness, growing up and letting go. * Culturefly * A brilliant, ridiculously funny book -- Robert Popper A charming, honest, moving and highly entertaining memoir in autographs. It captures the insanities of ambition, celebrity, obsession, love and marriage with accuracy and compassion. * A.L. Kennedy * The zaniest book I've read in eons. Andrusier is a fresh new voice and more importantly he's funny as hell. -- Gary Shteyngart Effortlessly funny and human * Daily Mail * A comic, affecting tale about escaping a chaotic home and discovering the truth behind the mask of fame * Independent * The obsessiveness of the collector is amusingly skewered in this memoir of rueful self-absorption * The Observer * An engaging and well-told tale * The Spectator * A warm, witty and poignant glimpse into the past * Culture Fly * Effortlessly told, it's a tale that spans the heartfelt and the hilarious * Happy Mag * A tragicomic triumph . . . Andrusier writes with an addictive deadpan style and he's blessed with an ability to evoke the comedy and pathos of everyday life. * The Mirror * Hugely entertaining . . . a read as out of the ordinary as the lives it chronicles. * NZ Herald * A witty memoir about the author's lifelong involvement with autograph collecting . . . Andrusier conveys its sadness and its strange comedy. * Literary Review *