THE TIN DRUM presents Hitler''s rise and fall through the eyes of the dwarfish narrator whose magic powers become symbolic of the dark forces dominating the German nation in the period. Like Thomas Mann''s DOCTOR FAUSTUS, Grass''s novel explores the dark roots of power and creativity. An early advocate of ''magic realism''. Gunter Grass is the most powerful and celebrated novelist to appear in post-war Germany. His home city of Danzig is a powerful presence in this novel.