Letters to his Parents: 1939-1951

"Adorno’s childhood always served him as a recollected utopia of protected bliss. The publication of his extensive correspondence with his parents well after that paradise was lost demonstrates its enduring power in his adult emotional life. Poignant, loving, anxious, at turns intellectually serious and childishly goofy, these letters not only testify to the strength of his family’s bonds, but also provide invaluable evidence of the struggles of German exiles in their new homeland. Scrupulously translated and exhaustively annotated, Adorno’s Letters to his Parents is a document of unique importance for anyone interested in the history of the Frankfurt School and for the migration as a whole."

Martin Jay, University of California, Berkeley