Grand Hotel Abyss

In 1923, a group of young radical German thinkers and intellectuals came together to at Victoria Alle 7, Frankfurt, determined to explain the workings of the modern world. Among the most prominent members of what became the Frankfurt School were the philosophers Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Herbert Marcuse. Not only would they change the way we think, but also the subjects we deem worthy of intellectual investigation.Grand Hotel Abyss combines biography, philosophy, and storytelling to reveal how the Frankfurt thinkers gathered in hopes of understanding the politics of culture during the rise of fascism. Some of them, forced to escape the horrors of Nazi Germany, later found exile in the United States. By taking popular culture seriously as an object of study—whether it was film, music, ideas, or consumerism—the Frankfurt School elaborated upon the nature and crisis of our mass-produced, mechanised society. Grand Hotel Abyss shows how much these ideas still tell us about our age of social media and runaway consumption.

“"Marvellously entertaining, exciting and informative." --John Banville, Guardian ("Best Books of 2016") "This seemingly daunting book turned out to be an exhilarating page-turner ... Grand Hotel Abyss is an outstanding critical introduction to some of the most fertile, and still relevant, thinkers of the 20th century." --Michael Dirda, Washington Post "Stuart Jeffries has produced a compelling and politically pressing group portrait of the philosophers associated with the Frankfurt School. Their thinking has never seemed less forbidding and more inspiring." --Matthew Beaumont, author of Nightwalking "Stuart Jeffries's intelligent, accessible new book reminds us of the value of critical thinking." -- Globe and Mail "A fractious Europe, a failing currency, a challenged economy, populist parties on the rise, a divided left, migration from the east, an atmosphere of fear combined with social and sexual liberalism. The parallels between Britain today and Germany in the 1920s may well make this a compelling moment to revisit those postwar German thinkers who gathered in what was known as the Frankfurt school for social research--something akin to a Marxist thinktank, though one whose policy papers and brilliant books fed future generations as much or more than their own ... Little wonder, given the history of the 20th century, that the Frankfurt school gave us intellectual pessimism and negative dialectics. Jeffries's biography is proof that such a legacy can be invigorating." --Lisa Appignanesi, Observer "There is much to provoke interest and thought, even entertain, in Jeffries' informative account of a group of highly intelligent observers and analysts of the imprisonment of humanity, both socially and individually by the corrosive system under which it suffers." -- Morning Star "Attempts something rather daring ... An easily accessible, funny history of one of the more formidable intellectual movements of the twentieth century ... an easy, witty, pacy read." --Owen Hatherley, Guardian "Intelligent, accessible." -- Globe and Mail "Jeffries moves swiftly across the decades, retracing the jagged paths from the official founding of the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt in June 1924, through its years in exile in New York in the '30s and Los Angeles in the '40s and its hasty return to Frankfurt in the early postwar years, up to the work of Horkheimer and Adorno's prized protg Jrgen Habermas and the Institute's legacy today." −Noah Isenberg, Bookforum "Throughout the book, Jeffries demonstrates that he is comfortable and conversant with the often thorny philosophical ideas of his subjects. A rich, intellectually meaty history." -- Kirkus "An impressive work of popular intellectual history." -- Open Letters Monthly "Intriguing and provocative ... Jeffries has done a great service in producing such a readable, wry and detailed introduction." --Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman "Equally sympathetic and critical, this book is sure to gain an enthusiastic reception from academics, armchair philosophers, and fellow travelers." -- Library Journal "A towering work of staggering scholarship." -- Irish Times "A valuable introduction to the lives and ideas of an influential group of twentieth century philosophers. I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand why much of what passed for radical thought in academia in the late twentieth century was so obscure and depressing." --Ian Angus, Climate & Capitalism”

Intriguing and provocative . . . Jeffries has done a great service in producing such a readable, wry and detailed introduction. -- Stuart Kelly The Scotsman
A fractious Europe, a failing currency, a challenged economy, populist parties on the rise, a divided left, migration from the east, an atmosphere of fear combined with social and sexual liberalism. The parallels between Britain today and Germany in the 1920s may well make this a compelling moment to revisit those postwar German thinkers who gathered in what was known as the Frankfurt school for social research – something akin to a Marxist thinktank, though one whose policy papers and brilliant books fed future generations as much or more than their own ... Little wonder, given the history of the 20th century, that the Frankfurt school gave us intellectual pessimism and negative dialectics. Jeffries’s biography is proof that such a legacy can be invigorating. -- Lisa Appignanesi Observer
A towering work of staggering scholarship. Irish Times
This seemingly daunting book turned out to be an exhilarating page-turner…Grand Hotel Abyss is an outstanding critical introduction to some of the most fertile, and still relevant, thinkers of the 20th century -- Michael Dirda Washington Post
Marvellously entertaining, exciting and informative. Jeffries is no idolator of great reputations, and his treatment of Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and Jürgen Habermas is refreshingly breezy, though never less than serious and carefully judged. -- John Banville Guardian, Books of the Year
hroughout the book, Jeffries demonstrates that he is comfortable and conversant with the often thorny philosophical ideas of his subjects. A rich, intellectually meaty history. Kirkus
Attempts something rather daring ... An easily accessible, funny history of one of the more formidable intellectual movements of the 20th century ... an easy, witty, pacy read -- Owen Hatherley Guardian

Stuart Jeffries worked for the Guardian for twenty years and has written for many media outlets including the Financial Times and Psychologies. He is based in London.

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