In 1935 two years after
Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany first as Chancellor and the in 1934 as Führer, American novelist and playwright
Sinclair Lewis published the dystopian novel
It Can't Happen Here in New York through Doubleday, Doran and Company. The novel outsold Lewis's other books, reaching sales of 320,000 copies.
"The novel describes the rise of Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, a demagogue who is elected
President of the United States, after fomenting fear and promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and "traditional" values. After his election, Windrip takes complete control of the government and imposes
totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force, in the manner of European fascists such as
Adolf Hitler and
Benito Mussolini. The novel's plot centers on journalist Doremus Jessup's opposition to the new regime and his subsequent struggle against it as part of a liberal rebellion" (Wikipedia article on It Can't Happen Here, accessed 11-2020).
In 2016 people familiar with this novel saw ready comparisons between the story it told and the election of President Donald J. Trump. As a result the book once again became a bestseller. There was also a revival of the stage version.
"In 1936, Lewis and John C. Moffitt wrote a stage version, also titled
It Can't Happen Here, which is still produced. The stage version premiered on October 27, 1936, in 21 U.S. theatres in 17 states simultaneously, in productions sponsored by the
Federal Theater Project.
"The San Francisco theater company, The Z Collective, adapted the novel for the stage, producing it both in 1989 and 1992. In 2004,
Z Space adapted the Collective's script into a radio drama that was broadcast on the Pacifica radio network on the anniversary of the Federal Theater Project's original premiere.
[16]Poster for an early theatrical production of It Can't Happen Here.
The cover of the 2017 French translation of It Can't Happen Here bears a resemblance to Donald J. Trump.
