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Dreaming of Hitler
Daphne Merkin Book Review

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Plot Summary of Dreaming of Hitler
"In 1996 Daphne Merkin exploded in controversy with her New Yorker essay, "Spanking: A Romance," in which she described her erotic fascination with being spanked. This richly thoughtful and cosmopolitan collection of pieces ranges across the spectrum of her interests, from women's fascination with scarfs to the ambivalent charms of lesbianism; from interview/portraits of Martin Scorsese and Norman Mailer to ruminations on the Biblical books of Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon; from tanning, thinning, and breast reduction surgery to her girlhood dreams of Hitler and Jewish self-hatred. A marvelous series of short essays that first appeared in "American Film," "Esquire," "The NY Times Magazine," "Mirabella," "Partisan Review," and many others."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Dreaming of Hitler
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Political/social rights fight Yes
Plotlet: - fighting for social change - women fighting for rights
Ethnic/Relig. of subject (inside) - Jew
Gender/Class story? - woman's story
Taboo Sex Story? Yes
If this is a culture clash: - minority culture living in majority area
Ethnic/regional/gender Yes

Subject of Biography
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - writer
Age: - 40's-50's
Ethnicity - Jew
Nationality - American (!)
How sensitive is this person? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 2 (a little)
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast
City? Yes
City: - New York
Century: - 1980's-Present

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
Book makes you feel? - thoughtful
Is book humorous? Yes
If humorous, kind of humor - Dry-cynical - gentle
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references - use of artificial tools - impregnation/reproduction - lesbians! - actual description of hetero sex
Commentary on society? Yes
Commentary on - love/sex - decency - selfishness - religion
Writer's slant towards subject: - favorable
Autobiography? Yes
How much dialogue in bio? - little dialog
How much is philosophy rather than life story? - 0-25% of book
Most similar books to Dreaming of Hitler
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Hello America by Livia Bitton-Jackson
Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
Jew Be or Not Jew Be: The Story of a Perpetual Alien by Peter J. Oszmann
Recollections: An Autobiography by Viktor E. Frankl by Viktor E. Frankl


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Daphne Merkin Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
David Loftus  

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