Wagnerism

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.