Being Polite to Hitler Book

Absolutely stunning novel so full of meaning and history that I could bearly read each page without wanting to stop, consider and take it in. This novel is wonderful reading, as well as an uncompromising insight into family dynamics. Ms Dew's sense of plot and timing is seamless.

Robb Forman Dew, a National Book Award winner for her book, "Dale Loves Sophie To Death," is an author whose ilk I have rarely experienced since college days in Classic American Literature. In fact, her book ought to be studied in colleges, it's that relevant today for understanding our social and political history, and its roots in post-WWII 1950's. This book stands shoulder to shoulder with those of Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood, Virginia Woolf and Carson McCullers.

"Being Polite to Hitler," is a story centered around the Scofield family of "small, ordinary town" Ohio. Through them, Ms Dew renders a microcosmic view of how everyday people might react to critical transitions and social upheavals such as civil rights, womens' issues, the Rosenbergs, Werhner von Braun, the atomic bomb, the Russians and bomb shelters, just to name a few. The unrelenting exposure to one scenario after another as these people deal with the day-to-day threats and complexities of the 1950's, builds a tension in the reader and brings to mind our lives in contemporary America in the latter decades of the 20th century. This is a cautionary story suited for our times as well as being nostalgic.

Characterization is perfection with female characters such as Agnes, the matriarch, who isn't as staid and boring as her grown children might think. My personal favorite, Lavinia, is the random voice of "women's lib" on the verge, 'though still fraught with "...being better than the Joneses," and the new wealth and commercialism of the decade. All of Robb's characters are to be cherished for their individuality and believability. What mother hasn't thought to herself somethng like Agnes's:

"But, what on earth possessed these people for whom she had been the best parent she could manage to be, for whom she had tried so hard to pretend wisdom, to mime adulthood--oh, Lord! Those children! Why weren't they safe by now? What were they doing? They rushed along through their lives, discarding the days like so many pieces of bad fish...Why were they so careless of their own contentment? Why weren't they willing to be happy all the time?"

Thank God, motherhood was taking a turn toward not feeling so guilty about everything their children did!


There is no question that Robb Forman Dew is a gifted writer whose work is rare and an edict for our times. Caught up in our everyday distractions we fail to "see" as the world and its complications spin by us. It is so much easier to be seduced into complacency by media which can lull us into believing, and cause us to be pacified if we blog or tweet, discuss the "situation" with our friends and family...or if we throw some money at it and pat ourselves on the back. Should we actually refuse to "be(ing) polite to Hitler," it would cut through our denial and require personal sacrifices, our actions, and true commitment. We might actually make a difference like Robb Dew and others who take a stand and stake their reputations on it.

As you can see, I was deeply moved by this book. It is a novel I can recommend without reservation to women and men. This book will be discussed from dinner parties to bookgroups to cozy lunch dates with significant others. Please do yourself a favor...don't miss it. In the meantime, I will be busy reading the other two novels in this trilogy.

Deborah/TheBookishDame