Spin doctoring didn’t start with “weapons of mass destruction” to justify an invasion of Iraq. No, one of the original spin doctors was Adolf Hitler, who turned a narrow electoral win into a “massive victory” that paved the way to power and world war. If you liked Joe Sacco‘s Footnotes In Gaza; Jason Lutes‘ Berlin books; Marjane Satrapi‘s Persepolis; Art Spiegelman‘s Maus; Margaret MacMillan‘s Paris 1919; or Ari Folman‘s film Waltz with Bashir, then you’ll love THE LISTENER.

THE LISTENER by David Lester contrasts the true story of a 1933 election with the fiction of a political death in 2010.

1933: In a small, snowy, sleepy German state, the last democratic election is about to take place before a failed artist named Hitler seizes power. The election is Hitler’s final chance to manipulate events that will lead to the death of millions. How did this happen?

NOW: A man falls to his death during a political act inspired by a work of art. The woman who created the art flees to Europe to escape her guilt over the death. A chance meeting results in the artist discovering the true story of the 1933 election. The past becomes pivotal as the artist decides the course of her future.

THE LISTENER Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 2011.

The Listener by David Lester
Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 6.5″ × 10″ × .75″; 312 pp (Paper)
Graphic Novel / Historical Fiction / Art & Politics
ISBNs: 9781894037488; 1894037480