A review by heavenwallgate
Henry Darger, Throwaway Boy: The Tragic Life of an Outsider Artist by Jim Elledge

3.0

This is my second time reading this book, but I’d forgotten a good bit of it so really it felt like the first. I do really appreciate Elledge’s commitment to pushing back against the unfounded narrative that Darger was a pedophile and/or serial killer, and I think he makes a lot of intriguing connections that suggest a queer subtext to his art. However, I don’t think the dramatic/novelistic tone always works. Elledge seems very attached to the idea that Darger and his friend Whillie were in a romantic relationship, and while I think it’s likely they were, the book treats it as a hard fact rather than speculation which I think detracts from its credibility. I also think Elledge brushes over potential trans readings of Darger’s art and writing very quickly, which I found disappointing.