{"product_id":"9780231518307","title":"Four Jews on Parnassus--a Conversation: Benjamin, Adorno, Scholem, Schnberg","description":"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003ci\u003eThis book features a CD of rarely performed music, including a specially commissioned rap by Erik Weiner of Walter Benjamin's \"Thesis on the Philosophy of History.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTheodor W. Adorno was the prototypical German Jewish non-Jew, Walter Benjamin vacillated between German Jew and Jewish German, Gershom Scholem was a committed Zionist, and Arnold Schönberg converted to Protestantism for professional reasons but later returned to Judaism. Carl Djerassi, himself a refugee from Hitler's Austria, dramatizes a dialogue between these four men in which they discuss fraternity, religious identity, and legacy as well as reveal aspects of their lives-notably their relations with their wives-that many have ignored, underemphasized, or misrepresented.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe desire for canonization and the process by which it is obtained are the underlying themes of this dialogue, with emphasis on Paul Klee's \u003ci\u003eAngelus Novus\u003c\/i\u003e (1920), a canonized work that resonated deeply with Benjamin, Adorno, and Scholem (and for which Djerassi and Gabrielle Seethaler present a revisionist and richly illustrated interpretation). Basing his dialogue on extensive archival research and interviews, Djerassi concludes with a daring speculation on the putative contents of Benjamin's famous briefcase, which disappeared upon his suicide.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47120274030832,"sku":"9780231518307","price":35.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780231518307_p0.jpg?v=1763679836","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780231518307","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}