A review by pero_tefi
The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning by Maggie Nelson

5.0

It started as 3 stars, but that is because I was expecting something else. For some reason I took it literally and thought it would be some kind of history of torture or the search of cruelty, the book is actually about the way media, and specifically cruel media, affects humanity. It questions how the events are shown, how emotions are processed, and the role of art in this understanding (art being art, literature, and cinema). So I was a bit confused, and my brain took a little while to boot up, but Maggie Nelsons intellect and way of analyzing and talking about these topics soon had me in a grip. Different to talking from only one perspective, her way of addressing the problems and questions comes from a variety of perspectives and puts each one in doubt, understanding and doubt mixed together.
I plan on buying it physically, so I can look into my notes more easily. It truly is a great book to talk about art, cruelty, and humanity.