I’ve long accepted the fact that I am one of tens of thousands of people who suffer from Wagner derangement syndrome. Many people listen to or watch the works of Wagner, but only an errant few become lifers. Given the sheer baggage of Wagner and the irksome coincidence of our shared surname, this is, of course, devastating. Many times I have had to explain myself and my behavior—that is, a very public obsession with “Der Ring des Nibelungen”—and all I’m able to answer with is: Well, there’s so much in there, you can lose yourself forever.
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