A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve : Alternative Book Press : 9781940122434 : 1940122430 : 15 Aug 2018 : "A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. is a fictional biography of Meinhardt Raabe, a midget hired to play a Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz. Meinhardt wants the dignity and respect given normal people, yet his disability makes him mistrust even those who can see past it. He devotes his life to succeeding in work, but wonders if it has been at the cost of friendship and love. The narrative follows Meinhardt from 1935 pre-war Berlin, where he is the victim of Nazi social hygiene policies, to his star turn in the movie, through decades of social change in the United States, and ends in 1980 with his pilgrimage to the small town in Germany where the grandmother (Oma) who raised him was born. There he confronts the choice to maintain the safety of his isolation or, at the age of 65, to at last take the risk of opening his heart. Secondary characters, based on imagined and historical figures, include Rodge