I can't judge this book, since I haven't read it. I do know, however, that Werkmeister, whatever one thinks of his politics or his scholarship, is hardly a "typical bourgeois academic." a life that early on encountered first-hand both Nazism and communism guaranteed that. in any event, self-styled anti-intellectuals are among the few things even more tiresome than blinkered academics.

"Icons of the Left" - well, in each of these instances one has to admit that Klee, Kafka, et al are popular with people of various political leanings, including rightwards, and that no one studies Klee's paintings solely for the purpose of learning about politics (but academics like to claim they are showcasing and introducing us to these politics - not so, guys!)
It is always painful to see Benjamin utilized by intellectual small-fry. Anyway, this is one of those curious books written by an academic of whom you have never heard and who attempts to glom himself onto various certifiable creative and intellectual geniuses who were also committed to progressive or socialist causes. Your typical American academic is someone who likes bourgeois comforts so much that they actually join the academic establishment, so they can be surrounded by the similarly conservative "leftist" upper middle class students. Why do these academics lack the courage to challenge themselves, their colleagues, and their students on the issue of their own obvious conservatism and avoidance of genuine Left commitment? Why do the offer each other relentless reassurance? They're not fooling anyone these days...