Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by lucy_sage
Monsters: What Do We Do With Great Art By Bad People? by Claire Dederer
3.5
This book started off so well!
When I started this book, I was hoping it would provide a clear-cut answer to a never-ending debate. It didn't.
Instead, it questioned why we react in certain ways when we learn that an artist did, or is doing, horrendous things. The book considered how do we deal with that hurt, the space it takes and whether we can overcome how the news affects our consumption of that's artists' art and biography.
This was the first 160 pages or so. Then, it went completely downhill with overly long questions about what it is to be a monster and whether she fit in the category. And, funnily enough, the ending was clear-cut, which I found counter-intuitive to everything that had been written. That all our reaction boils down to one single issue is a shortcut that undermines the complexity of the feelings, ideas and questions the author asked at the beginning of the book.
When I started this book, I was hoping it would provide a clear-cut answer to a never-ending debate. It didn't.
Instead, it questioned why we react in certain ways when we learn that an artist did, or is doing, horrendous things. The book considered how do we deal with that hurt, the space it takes and whether we can overcome how the news affects our consumption of that's artists' art and biography.
This was the first 160 pages or so. Then, it went completely downhill with overly long questions about what it is to be a monster and whether she fit in the category. And, funnily enough, the ending was clear-cut, which I found counter-intuitive to everything that had been written. That all our reaction boils down to one single issue is a shortcut that undermines the complexity of the feelings, ideas and questions the author asked at the beginning of the book.