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FANATIC - Novel by Norman Watt



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Soon after accepting a position as a German instructor at a tiny college in the remote hills of Kentucky, Colin Ritter takes on a challenge posed by the founder of the college over a hundred years earlier: if he can use his exceptional talent as a puzzle master to solve a convoluted series of riddles, he stands to become the owner of a work of art of incalculable value. As he slowly makes progress, he is faced with another problem—that a colleague of his may be harboring several paintings appropriated from German Jewish collectors during the Third Reich. With Colin’s subsequent amateur detective work comes the belated realization that he has put his life on the line.


Norman Watt taught German language and literature courses at St. Olaf College from 1966 to 2000 and was part of the college’s “Great Conversation” program. Since retiring, he has translated numerous historical and family documents from German to English. His novel Fanatic is currently being translated into German.

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The question that confronts us today is the same as in 1931-32: Do our leaders have the capacity to reach beyond their grasp, to challenge us to seek the higher angels of nature, to choose "Be informed! Be informed!" rather than "Be afraid! Be afraid!" In the end, however, we know that world peace is too important to be left in the hands of our leaders. Peace starts in our own back yards when we speak our for understanding when their is disharmony, food security where there is hunger, health care where there is disease, education where there is illiteracy, conservation where there is environmental harm, sustainable development where there is poverty ... and when we write letters across border to build goodwill and better friendships. - William Tubbs (2019)

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