Interview with Todd Strasser

an imaginary interview by Cecilia, Raffaele, Giada, Federica, Davide

Todd Strasser

My name is Todd Strasser. However, most of you may know me as Morton Rhue which is my pen name.

1. What is your name?

I was born in New York City. I earned my living as a reporter for the Middletown Times Herald-Record newspaper, and as a copywriter for Compton Advertising in New York City. My first novel was Angel Dust Blues (1978). I'm the father of two children, and an avid tennis player and surfer. In Germany, under the pen name Morton Rhue, I am the best-selling author of such novels as Die Welle, Dschihad Online, Ich knall euch ab! Boot Camp, No Place, No Home, Ghetto Kidz, Asphalt Tribe, and a number of other titles. In 2008, The Wave (the movie version of Die Welle) starring Jürgen Vogel, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to become a box office success in many European countries. In November of 2019 Netflix released a world-wide series, We Are The Wave, inspired by my novel.

2. can you tell us a few things about your life?

3. What did you study?

I studied literature and creative writing at the University of New York and at Beloit College.

My most popular book is The Wave. I have always liked writing about current issues, like nazism, the Second World War, nuclear war and homeless people.

4. What have you written about so far?

What inspired you to write about Nazism?

When I wrote "The Wave" we were studying Nazi Germany, so I wanted to show my students what it was like to stick to the rules of a leader. Nazism was an important movement in history and therefore it seemed right to me to refer to such an event.

I expected them to be able to have their own ideas and then rebel against me like the three girls did. Honestly, I never expected the students to replace reason with Nazi rules.

How did you expect the students to react to the experiment?

3. What prompted you to write this book?

I have always loved writing. Above all, I have always been interested in writing about historical themes, so I wanted to make clear to my readers how little is enough to fall back into the mistakes of the past.

I think everyone followed the crowd a bit, and while doing this, they felt part of something big.

4. In your opinion, why did the students blindly follow the leader's rules?

Todd Strasser The wave