Take a photo of a barcode or cover
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Separating the art from the artist is a difficult task for me. There are times that I am of the belief that the artist's views and interworkings are in their art. However, I also have instances of ignoring this belief for the enjoyment of something created by someone terrible. I feel uncomfortable with this hypocrisy; if I decide to not partake in the media of everyone who did something terrible; I could enjoy nothing, for everyone is terrible. The uneasy feeling comes back when I am watching something that has clear views of the author/artist embedded it in. What am I to do with this unease? A single person not reading or watching the media created by a person is not going to have any impact to the creator. It will impact the enjoyment of the consumer, their ethical quarrel is nothing to the creator. The only person you are proving something to is yourself. That doesn't mean I can't dislike or critique people on their actions and morals. I have to admit that there is no person who will fit within this strict path of ethics and morals in the age of the internet and social media being a part of most daily things. Trying to end people's careers for doing something many humans do is a black and white type of thinking that doesn't fit within the real world. This book brought up good questions to ask yourself, not only in the media that you digested, but your personal relationships as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Rape
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse
Minor: Antisemitism
A lot of detail about the sexual assault of minors, many points about alcoholism and the issues with recovery, a section about people abandoning their children, a decent amount about the domestic abuse of women and children, and smaller parts about antisemitism
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
in the opening of the final chapter of this book, claire dederer recounts a debate she and some friends had about their favourite trees in the pacific northwest of america, with dederer’s decision coming down to nothing other than the beauty of a specific kind of tree. to me, that’s a perfect description for what this book is like - on the surface, it poses some big, self-reflective, very important questions, but only sees fit to view them on an aesthetic level, and dances around any answer that doesn’t fit directly into the author’s very feminist-oriented system of beliefs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse
Minor: Death of parent
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
As a fan of many of Neil Gaiman’s works, I came across this book at the right time.
Dederer made many good points. I liked the visual of the stain, especially when she added the dynamic of parasocial relationships:
“This dynamic makes the stain more destructive—the more closely we are tied to the artist, the more we draw our identity from them and their art, the more collapsed the distance between us and them, the more likely we are to lose some piece of ourselves when the stain starts to spread.” (56)
With that said, her line of argument towards the end concerning consumption under capitalism felt like an easy way out of the conundrum. I agree that there is no truly ethical consumption under capitalism but that doesn’t mean consumer choice doesn’t matter at all. With our choices, we set signals, whether we show the demand for, let’s say, sustainable products, or a certain cultural phenomenon. I believe that if our goal is to make an artist irrelevant, we have to make their art irrelevant too. My go-to-example is Harry Potter. As long as people go to HP theme parks and buy HP merch and talk about the new HBO production, JKR will stay relevant, and with her, her bigotry.
(On that note, I’m glad Dederer mentions Rowling, but her “mask off” moment was in 2019, not 2021, and she has said much more hateful things than what Dederer quotes. Later though, when talking about Valerie Solanas, Dederer makes a fantastic point about radical feminism that applies to Rowling as well: “[Solanas] sacrifices a true vision of liberation on the altar of gender esentialism.”)
All in all, this book offered wisdom and food for thought, and it helped me navigate the ambiguous waters of loving a “monster’s” art a little better than before.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence
Minor: Transphobia
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Plenty of merit. A highly relevant and deeply insightful reflection of modern art consumption and the sense of self and identity in a consumerism-driven culture.
Does not answer its own thesis so much as reflect the sentiments of many. Could do with stronger interrogation of capitalism and how we view consumerism as political power.
Does not answer its own thesis so much as reflect the sentiments of many. Could do with stronger interrogation of capitalism and how we view consumerism as political power.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape
Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Dederer has one particular monster in mind that she wants to face through a labyrinth of love of the work, and hate of the crimes of the artist. A deliberate, clear-eyed and important work on being a feminist artist, a feminist audience, and a monster. Dederer wants to untangle her audience relationship with Polanski, for me I came to this book with the monster of Gaiman in mind. I wrote my dissertation on his work, I wept with joy at the Sandman tv adaptation, and last year it was revealed he's an abuser like so many other powerful monstrous men. Today I found out another victim's come forward and he's an exceptionally monstrous man. Dederer's book would be welcome if it only commiserated with the reader on the hurt that follows when monstrous artists are revealed. But it is more than comfort, it's an insightful vital piece of criticism on how we relate to art, and that it wouldn't hurt so much if there was not love at the heart of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
I needed to read this book to try to work through The Gaiman Problem that has been tormenting me since I heard about the allegations against him. Dedera explores the complicated muddle of art and artist, love and hate, how the biographies of artist and consumer intersect. No definite answers - because we are all human and all interactions and choices are made by human fallibility.
I found a couple of chapters frustrating, specifically the ones that discuss the topic of what makes a female monster, in a book mostly looking at male violence and the patriarchy. These two chapters seemed out of place, and the standards are different - mostly concerning motherhood. Of course, this is kind of the point...
The book is not perfect, but it gave me a little peace. There is grace here, and that is so desperately needed in this complicated, messed-up world where the monsters are as human as we are. No more, no less.
I found a couple of chapters frustrating, specifically the ones that discuss the topic of what makes a female monster, in a book mostly looking at male violence and the patriarchy. These two chapters seemed out of place, and the standards are different - mostly concerning motherhood. Of course, this is kind of the point...
The book is not perfect, but it gave me a little peace. There is grace here, and that is so desperately needed in this complicated, messed-up world where the monsters are as human as we are. No more, no less.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Antisemitism, Abandonment
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness
Minor: Transphobia
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Dederer poses questions we’ve all pontificated on at the dinner table...can you separate the art from the artist? Are some transgressions worse than others? How do we live with the monsters?
Her answers take us on a journey through the works of easily recognised monsters such like Polanski, questions the opaque nature of artists such as Nabokov and even flirts with the monstrous nature of women who do not sacrifice themselves to the altar of their children.
The work explores how modern consumption gives rise to these dilemmas, how gender intersects in the realm of monsters, the ways in which late capitalism falsely lays the responsibility of deciphering the morality on the consumer.
Ultimately leaving the reader to question their own foibles, how these came about and how the can be reconciled with their goodness.
Dederer’s exploration of biography is inextricably intertwined with her own biography elevating the subjective, an idea she excavates from the reproach of the critics often cited throughout this work.
I found myself talking back to this book as I listened, and not always in agreement. It was not a book I could leave on the bedside table, but rather found myself weaving into daily conversation.
Monsters will leave you with more questions than answers, as is the mark of a work that makes you think deeply.
Her answers take us on a journey through the works of easily recognised monsters such like Polanski, questions the opaque nature of artists such as Nabokov and even flirts with the monstrous nature of women who do not sacrifice themselves to the altar of their children.
The work explores how modern consumption gives rise to these dilemmas, how gender intersects in the realm of monsters, the ways in which late capitalism falsely lays the responsibility of deciphering the morality on the consumer.
Ultimately leaving the reader to question their own foibles, how these came about and how the can be reconciled with their goodness.
Dederer’s exploration of biography is inextricably intertwined with her own biography elevating the subjective, an idea she excavates from the reproach of the critics often cited throughout this work.
I found myself talking back to this book as I listened, and not always in agreement. It was not a book I could leave on the bedside table, but rather found myself weaving into daily conversation.
Monsters will leave you with more questions than answers, as is the mark of a work that makes you think deeply.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
"What do we do with great art by bad people?"
I often wonder if I should abandon the art of monsters. So many artists that I've enjoyed have turned out to be "monsters" as the author puts it. The author struggles with this question throughout the memoir and we eventually learn about her own monstrosity. If you're looking for a framework or a calculator to tell you how bad is too bad to enjoy, this book is not for you.
I loved her musings on monsters, especially the bit about the staining of art. It's true, when you learn about the artist it can ruin, or stain, the art, but not always. It's interesting to wonder why that is. I have an easier time blotting out the stain in certain cases and in others, I cannot. I've never watched Polanski's movies but now I am curious, would I be able to enjoy them knowing his history? After learning about Marion Zimmer Bradley and her sexual abuse against her own and other children, I couldn't fathom reading her books. Will I be able to watch the Scream franchise after they ousted Melissa Barrera for supporting Palestine? Is the whole franchise stained? Can I watch Stranger Things now that I know Will Byers is an avid Zionist and supporter of the genocide in Palestine?
How much monstrosity is too much monstrosity? Can I separate the art from the artist? Should I?
I often wonder if I should abandon the art of monsters. So many artists that I've enjoyed have turned out to be "monsters" as the author puts it. The author struggles with this question throughout the memoir and we eventually learn about her own monstrosity. If you're looking for a framework or a calculator to tell you how bad is too bad to enjoy, this book is not for you.
I loved her musings on monsters, especially the bit about the staining of art. It's true, when you learn about the artist it can ruin, or stain, the art, but not always. It's interesting to wonder why that is. I have an easier time blotting out the stain in certain cases and in others, I cannot. I've never watched Polanski's movies but now I am curious, would I be able to enjoy them knowing his history? After learning about Marion Zimmer Bradley and her sexual abuse against her own and other children, I couldn't fathom reading her books. Will I be able to watch the Scream franchise after they ousted Melissa Barrera for supporting Palestine? Is the whole franchise stained? Can I watch Stranger Things now that I know Will Byers is an avid Zionist and supporter of the genocide in Palestine?
How much monstrosity is too much monstrosity? Can I separate the art from the artist? Should I?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Abandonment
challenging
informative
medium-paced
This is a question that I grapple with myself, and this book made me reflect on my own thoughts and complicated feelings about loving the work of monstrous people. However, after the first half, the book started spinning in circles, and became repetitive and rambling. It was a slog reading through the monstrous mothers chapter(s?), which was way longer (or felt so) than any other section.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Rape, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence