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

3.75

i enjoyed this, i think, although i’m not sure i digested it all fully. it’s essentially a work of art criticism that examines how and why artists portray and inflict cruelty through their work and to what ends. nelson’s observations felt grounded and it felt like a good balance between her own descriptions and analyses of pieces of art and more theoretical philosophy frames. i will say that hearing about some of these extremely cruel and violent works in detail made me a little sick at times, though maybe i should have known that was what i was getting myself into here