{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1328470237?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"1328470237","authors":["Walter Benjamin"],"book_id":"9781328470232","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781328470232","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781328470232.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","description":"A selection of works from one of the most original cultural critics of the twentieth century—as selected by Hannah Arendt and including a classic essay of her own about Walter Benjamin’s life and philosophy.¶ “There has been no more original, no more serious critic and reader in our time.”—George Steiner ¶ An icon of criticism, Walter Benjamin was renowned for his insights on art, literature, and philosophy. This volume includes his views on Kafka, with whom he felt a close personal affinity; his studies on Baudelaire and Proust; and his essays on Leskov and on Brecht’s epic theater. Illuminations includes two of Benjamin’s best-known, deeply enlightening essays, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” and “Theses on the Philosophy of History,” as well as Hannah Arendt’s own essay about her subject’s life as a German-born Jew during a dark era.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9781328470232","publication_date":"20190115","publisher":"HarperCollins","slug":"illuminations","subtitle":"Essays and Reflections","title":"Illuminations"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"BIO006000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Lives in History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO007000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Writers' Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO010000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Political Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO013000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Lives of the Rich & Famous","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO021000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Social Scientists' Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO029000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Food World Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO032000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Activist Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO037000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Jewish Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}],"hint":[],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"BIO006000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Lives in History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO007000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Writers' Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO010000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Political Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO013000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Lives of the Rich & Famous","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO021000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Social Scientists' Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO029000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Food World Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO032000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Activist Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO037000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Jewish Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Lives in History","score":1,"slug":"lives-in-history"},{"label":"Writers' Lives","score":1,"slug":"writers-lives"},{"label":"Political Lives","score":1,"slug":"political-lives"},{"label":"Lives of the Rich & Famous","score":1,"slug":"lives-of-the-rich-famous"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Lives in History","Good for readers interested in essays","Good for fans of Philosophy"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Stefan Zweig","Will Stone"],"book_id":"9781782276364","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781782276364.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":10.4251,"title":"Nietzsche","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781782276364"},{"authors":["Iain Sinclair"],"book_id":"9780865478671","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780865478671.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":10.3906,"title":"American Smoke","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780865478671"},{"authors":["Robert K. Massie"],"book_id":"9780345336194","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780345336194.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":8.6642,"title":"Peter the Great","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780345336194"},{"authors":["Frances Welch"],"book_id":"9781476755502","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781476755502.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":8.6635,"title":"Rasputin","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781476755502"},{"authors":["Nadezhda Mandelstam","Max Hayward","Maria Stepanova"],"book_id":"9781101908365","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781101908365.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":8.6565,"title":"Hope Against Hope","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781101908365"},{"authors":["Georgette Bennett"],"book_id":"9781949846744","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781949846744.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":8.6499,"title":"Half-jew—full Life","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781949846744"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:philosophy"],"label":"Philosophy","score":0.1142,"slug":"philosophy"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:literary collection"],"label":"Literary","score":0.0955,"slug":"literary"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:biographies of famous people"],"label":"Biographies","score":0.0718,"slug":"biographies"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:literary collection"],"label":"Collection","score":0.0512,"slug":"collection"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:essays"],"label":"Essays","score":0.0469,"slug":"essays"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: Philosophy, Literary, Biographies.","Reading lane: Lives in History and Writers' Lives.","Publisher: HarperCollins."]},"llm_signals":null,"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":false,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":0,"goodreads_ratings_count":12562,"goodreads_reviews_count":415,"quality_score":0.9401}}