Hitler and My Mother-in-Law

(Hardback)

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Hitler and My Mother-in-Law is a riveting memoir that explores the intersection of truth-both familial and political-through the colorful and complex life of the author's mother-in-law-a WWII propagandist whose manipulation of truth shaped her legacy.

From walking off with a million-dollar painting from Hitler's Eagle's Nest to purchasing Matisse artworks for UNICEF, selling war booty to the National Gallery, and hustling nave art in Arizona, her story is a fascinating journey through history, art, and deception. Ironically, she even played a key role in preventing art fraud in Hawaii.

The memoir delves into the art of invention and the complexities of memory and truth, interwoven with humorous yet profound moments. The book examines the comical Soviet efforts to conceal Hitler's death, McCarthy's investigations, and the author's own struggle to compete with both her mother and her mother-in-law. Threaded throughout are insights into organizations that malign the word "mother" and, of course, plenty of mother-in-law jokes.

With meticulous research and a unique perspective, Hitler and My Mother-in-Law challenges the boundaries of narrative honesty, offering a powerful exploration of propaganda, identity, and the personal reckoning that defines the art of memoir. It's a compelling mix of history, family, and a biting reflection on the politics of truth-past and present.

Reviews

PRAISE FOR TERESE SVOBODA:

"One of our best writers.
Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia! and Sleep Donation

One of the writers you would be tempted to read regardless of the setting of the period or the plot or even the genre.
Bloomsbury Review

A true original.
Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel

PRAISE FOR TERESE SVOBODA'S PREVIOUS WORKS:

Svoboda's prose is...stuffed to the brim with invention, surprise and the sweaty mystery of whom we get tangled up with, and why.
New York Times

Exquisite....[Svoboda] crafts singular depictions of her characters inner worlds.
Publishers Weekly

"Call it amped-up in medias res, and take a moment to find your bearings. You have been gleefully tossed into the deep end.
New York Times

Roxy and Coco is trademark Svoboda, where outsiders are the stars. As action-packed as the novel is, at the core is the deep love for a sibling, and in this case the love has grown for a millennium. A dazzling story that is compulsively readable and deeply relatable.
Electric Lit

Author Bio

A Guggenheim fellow, Terese Svoboda is the author of 20 books. She has won the Bobst Prize in fiction, the Iowa Prize for poetry, an NEH grant for translation, the Graywolf Nonfiction Prize, a Jerome Foundation prize for video, the O. Henry award for the short story, and a Pushcart Prize for the essay. She is a three time winner of the New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship, and has been awarded Headlands, James Merrill, Hawthornden, Hermitage, Yaddo, MacDowell, Rowland, VCCA, Bogliasco, and Bellagio residencies. Her opera WET premiered at L.A.'s Disney Hall.