Gagman

Gagman is a touching and unique tale of survival through unimaginable horror.

A prisoner in a WWII concentration camp discovers a superpower that could keep him alive – he can make the commandant laugh by telling jokes. He must stay funny – or die.

Pushed to the ends of his wit and humanity, Gagman is propelled into a spiralling madness in which he would sell his soul for a gag, simply to live another day.

Evoking themes from The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Fedler weaves the story of a Faustian bargain brokered in hell, where redemption comes in the form of a punchline.

Swapping his yellow star for a tattered comic book, Gagman roams the new world and zeitgeist determined to find answers to the deepest questions about loss, hope and belonging.

Illuminated by Fedler’s haunting cartoons, Gagman juxtaposes humour and pathos and explores survivor guilt, desperation and the search for meaning in the wake of the Holocaust.

About the Author

Dov Fedler is now in his 70s and has been drawing for more than 50 of those years. This is self-evident in his cartoons where a skilled hand, an intuitive understanding of current affairs, and a sharp wit meet.

Dov joined The Star newspaper as their cartoonist in the early 1970s and has been with that paper ever since. His cartoons are now published across the country in other Independent titles too; The Pretoria News, The Mercury, The Cape Times, Kimberly’s ‘Diamond Fields Advertiser’. He has covered the careers of hundreds of politicians, athletes and celebrities from Albert Hertzog through to Jacob Zuma.

Dov’s earliest dream was to work for Walt Disney. He has always known his career was somewhere in drawing. He got to visit Disney World and could not wait to leave. He has never been to Europe or Brakpan and is a pure product of Johannesburg. He loves older movies. The last on his wish list was to become a political cartoonist.

He is married to a doctor, has three daughters, a doctor, a lawyer and author and a media boff. He has three grandchildren and a cat called Smudge.

Joanne Fedler is a speaker, publisher and the bestselling author of 14 books, including Secret Mothers’ Business, Things Without a Name and Unbecoming. She is Dov’s writing mentor, editor and middle daughter.