Lorenz Jäger

A serviceable biography of Adorno's political life. It gives a good account of Adorno's relationship with Max Horkheimer and of how his aesthetic interests, especially music, could be explained politically. Jager paints Adorno as the ultimate outsider. Frequently disdained by his peers, fusty in his condemnation of jazz and popular music, and shady in his politically affiliations, Adorno is an easy character to dislike. However, Jager does a fairly good job painting Adorno as a modernist trapped in a world obsessed with post-modernism.

This book seems to have some translation problems. The prose does not flow smoothly and sometimes words don't seem to fit very well in context. The biography also feels disjointed, more like a series of snapshots of important moments in Adorno's political life than a narrative of his political career. Jager's biography also frequently lapses into digressions about other figures around Adorno like Benjamin and Horkheimer.

Not a bad biography all in all, but definitely could be better.… (meer)