The novel's protagonist, Daniel Weinreb, lives in a society that does not meet his spiritual needs. Disch treats his protagonist ruthlessly; Weinreb endures physical, sexual, spiritual, and intellectual debasement. On Wings of Song has the rambling structure often found in Victorian novels, but Disch is explicit about what is to be learned from the incidents and coincidences that form his story of an indifferent society. Weinreb wants to become a singer so that he may "fly," which in On Wings of Song means to use an electrical apparatus to free the spirit from its body while one sings. While serving time in prison at the age of fourteen for the ridiculous crime of delivering to homes a newspaper that carries advertisements for pornographic movies houses, Weinreb is told how to learn to sing: "Make a mess of your life. The best singers always do." The speaker is Gus...