Theodor W. Adorno

Gerhard Schweppenhauser is Professor of Design, Communication, and Media Theory at the University of Wurzburg in Germany. He has written many books building on the sociocultural, analytical mission of the Frankfurt School, including two focused on Adorno. James L. Rolleston is Professor Emeritus of Germanic Languages and Literatures at Duke University. He has written books on Kafka, Rilke, and modern German poetry. His translation of Bernd Witte's "Walter Benjamin: An Intellectual Biography" won the German Literary Prize of the American Translators Association. His and Kai Evers's translation of Peter Weiss's last play, "The New Trial," is also published by Duke University Press.

"This superb introduction to Adorno's complex and difficult work is full of extraordinary insights, which will benefit the old hands as well as the beginners."--Fredric Jameson, Duke University "This is a clear and concise overview of Theodor W. Adorno's philosophical, political, sociological, and aesthetic thought, written by a brilliant German theorist. Gerhard Schweppenhauser covers all the central topics in Adorno's writing, shows a firm grasp not only of his work but also of the secondary literature on it, and relates his thought to the more recent theoretical literature that has challenged it."--George Steinmetz, University of Michigan "Theodor W. Adorno: An Introduction is a useful survey of Adorno's thought. It is concise, written in plain language, and focused on the most important topics and themes of the theorist's work. Gerhard Schweppenhauser gives essential background about the intellectual and historical context of Adorno's thought and writings, and he makes a convincing case for the internal coherence of a complex and at times apparently heterogeneous body of work."--Uwe Steiner, Rice University "Schweppenhauser's text is never less than eminently readable and often deeply insightful and it serves to remind us how, in an age dominated by consumerism, this great thinker's ideas remain deeply relevant." - Times Higher Education