Theodor W. Adorno was a German sociologist, philosopher and musicologist known for his critical theory of society. In the Hotel Abyss is a critical analysis of a selection of Adorno's work framed by four essential concerns: Adorno's method of analysis; the absence of a theory of social change; the relationship of his approach to the dialectics of Hegel and Marx; and Adorno's use of his approach with respect to jazz, popular music, radio and pro-fascist propaganda of the 1930s and '40s as an instrument to disparage the working class.

About the Author
Robert Lanning, Ph.D. (1990), Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, is part-time Professor at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of Mount Saint Vincent University. He has published many articles and two books, Georg Lukacs and Organizing Class Consciousness (Marxist Educational Press, 2009), The National Album: Collective Biography and the Formation of the Canadian Middle Class (Carleton University Press, 1996).


Reviews
"The agenda of Lanning in this work is to provide the conceptual evidence to substantiate Lukacs' implied accusation that exile in the US involved the abandonment on Adorno's part of any authentic connection to the Marxist project of proletarian emancipation ... An invigorating and provocative read."
Sean Ledwith, Marx and Philosophy Review of Books
"The agenda of Lanning in this work is to provide the conceptual evidence to substantiate Lukacs' implied accusation that exile in the US involved the abandonment on Adorno's part of any authentic connection to the Marxist project of proletarian emancipation ... An invigorating and provocative read."
-Sean Ledwith, Marx and Philosophy Review of Books



Book Information
ISBN 9781608464203
Author Robert Lanning
Format Paperback
Page Count 226
Imprint Haymarket Books
Publisher Haymarket Books
Weight(grams) 325g