this book claims to have this lofty goal of showing how art influences politics, it doesnt really explore that thesis very well, but it accomplishes its secret true goal of exonerating wagner from being the “hitler composer”. this is honestly a pretty important thing to do because wagner is a once-in-a-century talent that people get scared of when you mention him because some nazi character in a movie played “tristan” on his phonograph or whatever.
unfortunately the book doesnt flow very well, kind of feeling more like a laundry list of various artworks and stories that were influenced by wagner, rather than really try to elegantly explore its thesis of art and politics. but, lots of good stories anyways. the author unfortunately shoots himself in the foot by speculating on the homosexuality of virtually every historical figure ever after a certain point in the book, which ranges from annoying to extremely upsetting in various circumstances.
definitely a lot of great empirical arguments. definitely changes how i size up probabilities and decisions. author has a background as a ‘quant', and the brightest parts of this book is when he relates his field of expertise to the more abstract area of uncertainty, dunking on gaussian social scientists. however, i utterly disagree with his more metaphysical conclusions, such as history being nothing other than an entertainment due to difficulty of ascertaining the past (correct, it is absolutely chaotic, but do you not think the STORY OF HUMANITY UP TO THIS POINT might not have something to say?).
also he's a dick