History & Criticism
![Claire Dederer - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B003SY8AJI.jpg)
Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma
A NEW YORK TIMES MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK • Can we love the work of Hemingway, Polanski, Naipaul, Miles Davis, or Picasso? Should we? A passionate, provocative, blisteringly smart interrogation of how we make and experience art in the age of #MeToo, and of the link between genius and monstrosity.
"Monsters leaves us with Dederer's passionate commitment to the artists whose work most matters to her, and a framework to address these questions about the artists who matter most to us." -The Washington Post
"Thrillingly sharp, appropriately doubtful, and more fun than you would believe, given the pressing seriousness of the subject matter." -Nick Hornby, best-selling author of High Fidelity
From the author of the New York Times best seller Poser and the acclaimed memoir Love and Trouble, Monsters is"part memoir, part treatise, and all treat" (The New York Times),this unflinching, deeply personal book expands on Claire Dederer's instantly viral Paris Review essay, "What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?" asks: Does genius deserve special dispensation? Is male monstrosity the same as female monstrosity? Does art have a mandate to depict the darker elements of the psyche? And what happens if the artist stares too long into the abyss?
She explores the audience's relationship with artists from Woody Allen to Michael Jackson, asking: How do we balance our undeniable sense of moral outrage with our equally undeniable love of the work? In a more troubling vein, she wonders if an artist needs to be a monster in order to create something great. And if an artist is also a mother, does one identity inexorably, and fatally, interrupt the other? Highly topical, morally wise, honest to the core, Monsters is certain to incite a conversation about whether and how we can separate artists from their art.
"Monsters leaves us with Dederer's passionate commitment to the artists whose work most matters to her, and a framework to address these questions about the artists who matter most to us." -The Washington Post
"Thrillingly sharp, appropriately doubtful, and more fun than you would believe, given the pressing seriousness of the subject matter." -Nick Hornby, best-selling author of High Fidelity
From the author of the New York Times best seller Poser and the acclaimed memoir Love and Trouble, Monsters is"part memoir, part treatise, and all treat" (The New York Times),this unflinching, deeply personal book expands on Claire Dederer's instantly viral Paris Review essay, "What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?" asks: Does genius deserve special dispensation? Is male monstrosity the same as female monstrosity? Does art have a mandate to depict the darker elements of the psyche? And what happens if the artist stares too long into the abyss?
She explores the audience's relationship with artists from Woody Allen to Michael Jackson, asking: How do we balance our undeniable sense of moral outrage with our equally undeniable love of the work? In a more troubling vein, she wonders if an artist needs to be a monster in order to create something great. And if an artist is also a mother, does one identity inexorably, and fatally, interrupt the other? Highly topical, morally wise, honest to the core, Monsters is certain to incite a conversation about whether and how we can separate artists from their art.
Editorial Reviews
NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED/BEST BOOK OF SPRING BY: The New York Times (twice!), BuzzFeed, Entertainment Weekly, TIME Magazine, Bustle, i-D, Nylon, Kirkus, The Millions, LitHub, Alta, Chicago Review of Books, The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Part memoir, part treatise, and all treat . . . nimble, witty . . . Her exquisitely reasoned vindication of Lolita brought tears to my eyes . . . This is a book that looks boldly down the cliff of roiling waters below and jumps right in, splashes around playfully, isn't afraid to get wet. How refreshing." -The New York Times
"[A] vital, exhilarating book . . . Although Dederer has done her homework, her style is breezy and confessional . . . Monsters leaves us with Dederer's passionate commitment to the artists whose work most matters to her, and a framework to address these questions about the artists who matter most to us." -The Washington Post
"She asks important questions . . . [and] skirts categorical answers. Subtle and adroit." -The Atlantic
"Dazzling . . . If you too love the work of Polanski-or Picasso, Hemingway, Allen, Davis, and so on-sticking with Dederer on her curlicued journey might be the best gift you can give yourself. The final chapter feels its way toward a conclusion that burns clean, though it hurts a little too." -TIME
"[Dederer] just keeps getting better and smarter. In Monsters, she ties herself in intellectual and emotional knots, poking holes in her own arguments with gusto. In contrast to so many nonfiction books adapted from articles, Monsters doesn't stretch a singular thesis over several hundred pages. Quite the contrary, it's absolutely exhilarating to read the work of someone so willing to crumple up her own argument like a piece of paper, throw it away and start anew. She's constantly challenging her own assumptions, more than willing to find flaws in her own thinking." -
"Part memoir, part treatise, and all treat . . . nimble, witty . . . Her exquisitely reasoned vindication of Lolita brought tears to my eyes . . . This is a book that looks boldly down the cliff of roiling waters below and jumps right in, splashes around playfully, isn't afraid to get wet. How refreshing." -The New York Times
"[A] vital, exhilarating book . . . Although Dederer has done her homework, her style is breezy and confessional . . . Monsters leaves us with Dederer's passionate commitment to the artists whose work most matters to her, and a framework to address these questions about the artists who matter most to us." -The Washington Post
"She asks important questions . . . [and] skirts categorical answers. Subtle and adroit." -The Atlantic
"Dazzling . . . If you too love the work of Polanski-or Picasso, Hemingway, Allen, Davis, and so on-sticking with Dederer on her curlicued journey might be the best gift you can give yourself. The final chapter feels its way toward a conclusion that burns clean, though it hurts a little too." -TIME
"[Dederer] just keeps getting better and smarter. In Monsters, she ties herself in intellectual and emotional knots, poking holes in her own arguments with gusto. In contrast to so many nonfiction books adapted from articles, Monsters doesn't stretch a singular thesis over several hundred pages. Quite the contrary, it's absolutely exhilarating to read the work of someone so willing to crumple up her own argument like a piece of paper, throw it away and start anew. She's constantly challenging her own assumptions, more than willing to find flaws in her own thinking." -
Readers Top Reviews
caetano-sf
I read this because I, too, wonder how to reconcile our respect for an artist's work when we cannot respect the artist. But this book wasn't helpful to me. She seemed to draw two major conclusions. The first was people are inconsistent. OK... The second was: we are capable of loving someone (in our family, say) who has done terrible things, so it's not a surprise when we do this with an artist we've never met. Ok... But that doesn't really help me much. And it takes you 288 pages to get there?
