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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
this is good. it’s well researched and dederer raises several important questions and points. it’s a tad overlong, and some chapters felt tangential, but enjoyable throughout. there is no grand stand taken here, but there are rarely easy answers in the realms of beauty and monstrosity.
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
great!!
much easier to read and definitely a whole lot funnier than I'd expected. Dederer has a great, conversational, tone that makes her thesis feel interesting, pretty breezy, from start to finish. I don't think she always takes the easiest path to that thesis statement however; some chapters are more obviously serving as bridges from one point to another and not each chapter is equally as successful as each other. it does still contain some really excellent writing on Wagner, Hemingway, Picasso, Nabokov, Raymond Carver, and more. really multifaceted perspectives that make you admire the amount of ground Dederer is covering, and how easily she's doing it. she's ultimately providing a sharp and insightful, strong, exploration of experience and understanding, rather than any guide or advice, a How to Witch Hunt, or Cancel Culture bible. happy to read this, happy to have had it as a birthday gift, happy to recommend it to pretty much anyone.
not as easy to blast through as I'd hoped, especially considering the amount I enjoyed it, but hardly tough to read, or stomach, if you're concerned.
much easier to read and definitely a whole lot funnier than I'd expected. Dederer has a great, conversational, tone that makes her thesis feel interesting, pretty breezy, from start to finish. I don't think she always takes the easiest path to that thesis statement however; some chapters are more obviously serving as bridges from one point to another and not each chapter is equally as successful as each other. it does still contain some really excellent writing on Wagner, Hemingway, Picasso, Nabokov, Raymond Carver, and more. really multifaceted perspectives that make you admire the amount of ground Dederer is covering, and how easily she's doing it. she's ultimately providing a sharp and insightful, strong, exploration of experience and understanding, rather than any guide or advice, a How to Witch Hunt, or Cancel Culture bible. happy to read this, happy to have had it as a birthday gift, happy to recommend it to pretty much anyone.
not as easy to blast through as I'd hoped, especially considering the amount I enjoyed it, but hardly tough to read, or stomach, if you're concerned.
dark
informative
slow-paced
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
this is a really interesting analysis moreso of how an audience engages with the work of ‘bad’ people. it queries what it means to be a monster, and posits that perhaps we are all monstrous in our own ways, so where is the line? to be a monster is to be normal, a part of the human condition. there is nothing exceptional about it. i think the conclusions drawn about there being no such thing as ethical consumption so consume whatever are perhaps a flattening and lack nuance of the conversation, but this is an interesting book that has shifted the way that i think about the art that i engage with
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced