by Jon Lackman | 26 April 2006 | Books
Buttressing the idea that creative types are often utopianists, a new book edited by Ulrich Raulff considers seven instances in which they idealistically attempted political change, usually via their patrons. Goethe held several government positions in his lifetime, advancing the ideal of the poet-prince as a reconciliation of the two roles. Reviewer Christine Tauber is on the whole glad that artists have been largely unsuccessful in grabbing the levers of power.
