For Immediate Release: July 22, 2008

The Oakland Public Library Presents Hitler’s Assault on Humor, a Discussion with Roswitha McIntosh

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(Oakland, CA)—Join Roswitha McIntosh, author of The Madman & His Mistress, a historical novel set in Germany during the reign of Adolf Hitler. Specifically, the evening’s discussion will address Hitler’s uncommon fear of humor. Ms. McIntosh will appear at the Main Library, 125 14 th Street, on Thursday, August 14, 2008, from 6 to 7:30 PM.

While researching her novel, Ms. McIntosh unearthed some remarkable examples of dissident humor during Hitler’s time, as well as the Fuhrer’s heavy-handed response to it. One of Hitler’s first moves as Chancellor was to declare humor treason against the fatherland, and he even went so far as to persecute a cartoonist who had lampooned him years earlier. Nevertheless, humor survived underground, and Ms. McIntosh makes a case that humor is integral to our humanity, as a relief against despair and as a sign of hope.

The Madman & His Mistress plunges readers into Germany during the years leading up to World War II, and offers compelling insight into the mindset of those turbulent times. The “Madman” of the title, of course, is Hitler, who assumes power with promises of work and bread and grand schemes that will ultimately lead the nation into tyranny and doom. The metaphorical “Mistress” is the German people. The novel is informed by the author’s personal experience and extensive research. Ms. McIntosh was born in Germany the year that Hitler slipped into the Chancellery without a single vote.

For more information, call the Oakland Public Library at (510) 238-3841, or visit the Oakland Public Library’s Website at www.oaklandlibrary.org. To request sign interpretation or other accommodation, please contact the number above at least five working days prior to the event. The Oakland Public Library is a department of the City of Oakland.

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