Welcome to Litsy!

A meditation on how the personal lives of artists impact our view of them as fans. Once we know horrible things about a person (Picasso, Cosby, etc.), how can we still enjoy their art? The author questioning both herself and others in the way to process the hardest contradictions. It‘s complicated and doesn‘t shy away from the conflicting things we feel. I was fascinated and left thinking about the debate for days.

Picked this up on a whim thinking it was going to be a salacious, who‘s who of cancelled celebrity wrong-uns and their crimes. It‘s better than that. It‘s about fandom & the sticky problem “separating the art from the artist”. We see how artists/men behaving badly are given a bye due to their “genius”, while female counterparts are labeled “monsters” for different reason. It‘s all done through a post-modern, Marxist-feminist lens. A great critique

For about 60% of this book I was engrossed and having lots of conversations with myself about the contents. Then it sort of lost its way for me. There are lots of good discussion points, though no answers. We will all have our personal perspectives on many of these things. But a woman being mentally ill and killing herself (child abandonment) and a man drugging and raping a 13yr old are not comparable. I‘ll let you guess who.

Yep.

⭐️⭐️💫 I finished this and I have thoughts… mainly I think she lost her thread or needed to better define “monster”. The book starts with her conflicted feelings of what to do with the art of child rapists but then moves to a version of “we‘re all monsters” by which she means women artists want space from their children to create? It felt like a false equivalence of monstrosity=any imperfections. If everyone is a monster then no one is. 👇

@fredthemoose called it right ,it can be tedious because she analyzes it from all angles.Still, I can come away that I do still respect the art of some people I don‘t respect as human beings.Will I support them with my dollars anymore, probably not.That doesn‘t make me or them better people though. I thought about Alice Neel ,I love her paintings, her life was more difficult for her kids & herself, there‘s even a doc about that.Kids get their say.

I really wanted and expected to like this, but I‘m close to halfway through and am just finding it so… tedious…
😒

What to do with the art of monstrous men?

This hooked me. It‘s a book I knew I was reading too fast but I also didn‘t want to put it down. Love her voice, her slippery writing. It‘s smart and thought provoking but also beautiful and personal.

This question comes up so many times with my friends I kind of want to have this book on hand to give out.

Oh, maybe that‘s what I‘ll do for Christmas. 🎄

Can you love the art of an artist who is or was a monster? It‘s a question I think most of us ask ourselves and others.

Personally I love the Harry Potter books, even though I feel morally conflicted by Rowling‘s politics. And Michael Jackson‘s music will always live in my head.

This explores that huge question and different ways of looking at the answers and why our emotions vary on the topic. Very well thought out!

My eclipse shot and book review all in one ?

"Monsters" grapples with the question of what to do with about the artwork of monstrous men (and a couple of women).

My example is Woody Allen. "Midnight in Paris" is one of my all-time favorite movies. I have a friend who won't even consider ever watching a Woody Allen film - no matter what.

Should we consume and support the work put out by immoral, wicked monsters?

This was thought-provoking.

I have spent many hours contemplating the authors subject of this book. What do you do with the artist who is brilliant and who makes meaningful art to you but they have done awful, monstrous things? We have so many examples of this- some cases hard, some much easier. I don‘t agree with some points but she is thorough, persuasive and these chapters seem important and current. I will be thinking about this one for a while!

Good night. You all want to read this book. It‘s so smart and thought-provoking, and sometimes very funny.

This book is so smart and fascinating and honest and vulnerable and my younger self is desperately jealous that it isn‘t a book I wrote. My actual self is grateful to have read it.

I don‘t know if I wanted the author to give me answers (like she herself wants at the start of the book) but I found this unsatisfying. It looks at all sorts of ways that artists are monsters as are we the audience. But in the end it feels a little like she equates child rape to mild neglect as being equally bad…
I wish it had explored the idea more - what our options/approaches might be.

This is part memoir and part essays of if we can still love the art of horrible people. I loved so much of this book. I found the essays to be thought provoking and vulnerable, when I really expected a scandalous read of the horrible crimes of famous artists…which it wasn‘t. It‘s a mental exercise of how/if one is allowed to enjoy what monsters make.

Dederer looks at her dilemma as a fan when monstrous allegations come out about an actor, director, or artist. Do you throw out the art with the artist? Is it okay to stream a Roman Polanski movie if you don‘t pay for it? There are no easy or glib answers here. It was really interesting to read this last week while I slowly watched a docuseries about Playboy, which also went into the complex stories of victims. Thought-provoking for sure!

Absolutely loved this examination of reconciling the art and the artist, something I think about a lot. Superbly written and observed. I loved the veering into memoir. Dederer is also a great audiobook narrator, which isn‘t always the case when the author reads their own book.

Great topic, and Dederer is a wonderful writer (and a likable audio narrator). But I‘m going to have to sit with her ideas for a while. Some I don‘t know that I agree with from an ethical perspective (and feel a bit like rationalizations). Others feel spot-on, sometimes uncomfortably so. Certainly a thought-provoking read that has me considering my own choices and judgments re: “problematic faves.”

Thought provoking. Claire discusses how we deal with monstrous mean and how we deal with their work. Fantastic read.

Recent Reads June 21 - #LGBTQ #CanadianAuthors #comics #booktube
https://youtu.be/ePQHM8j1QVQ

How do we reconcile our love for a work of art with the monstrous person who made it? Polanski, Allen, Picasso, Hemingway, Davis—artists hailed as geniuses but with biographies blemished by despicable acts. Should the art be revered or discarded? Claire Dederer asks these questions, among others, in an attempt to decode her own misgivings about the art she loves.

This is a fantastic book, succinctly written, and one I will definitely read again.

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/monsters-fan-dilemma-dederer-review-17800...