Monsters

A Fan's Dilemma

De: Claire Dederer

Narrado por: Claire Dederer

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A timely, passionate, provocative, blisteringly smart interrogation of how we make and experience art in the age of cancel culture, and of the link between genius and monstrosity. Can we love the work of controversial classic and contemporary artists but dislike the artist?

"A lively, personal exploration of how one might think about the art of those who do bad things"—Vanity Fair • "[Dederer] breaks new ground, making a complex cultural conversation feel brand new."—Ada Calhoun, author of Also a Poet

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?"

Can we love the work of artists such as Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Miles Davis, Polanski, or Picasso? Should we? Dederer explores the audience's relationship with artists from Michael Jackson to Virginia Woolf, asking: How do we balance our undeniable sense of moral outrage with our equally undeniable love of the work? Is male monstrosity the same as female monstrosity? And if an artist is also a mother, does one identity inexorably, and fatally, interrupt the other? In a more troubling vein, she wonders if an artist needs to be a monster in order to create something great. Does genius deserve special dispensation? 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?

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

A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, NPR, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Vulture, Elle, Esquire, Kirkus

©2023 Claire Dederer (P)2023 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

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

“Excellent . . . A work of deep thought and self-scrutiny that honors the impossibility of the book’s mission. Dederer comes to accept her love for the art that has shaped her by facing the monstrous, its potential in herself, and the ways it can exist alongside beauty and pathos. Go ahead, she tells us, love what you love. It excuses no one.” —The New Yorker

“[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

Excellent foray into our collective dilemma

Really enjoyed this book, and I think the author did a great job reading it. I listened at 1.9 speed so I don’t know if that made a difference in sound quality. I was challenged by her arguments for and against monsters, and I appreciated the connection to late stage capitalism.

Not just a book about terrible men

I almost didn’t buy this book, thinking it would just be endless cataloguing of the monstrous acts of so many men over the millennia (& I had no desire to rehash that history.) But the author was introspective and even had a chapter on how women (herself included) can be monsters! She also wrote much about how creative arts require total dedication of the artist such that monstrous behavior often results from creation of masterpieces. Loved this book!

A Necessary Think Piece

Anyone who loves art created by a monster will get something from this, and that’s unfortunately probably most of us.

The diversity of the subjects really brings everything home too

Recommending to everyone

I feel like this was the answer to a question I have had for years. She fleshes it out in heart rendering, tender and thoughtful detail. I am so grateful for this piece of excellent writing.

Of Monsters and Men

Incredibly well researched book, beautifully written that challenged me at every chapter. I loved the author’s narration. You won’t find any easy answers and your Monsters may be different. A perfect book club read for the variety of opinions likely to surface. And also? I want to go to Murfa, Texas.

The chapter on writers spoke my truth

Excellent , deep, raw , authentic analysis
On thinking about art, cancel culture, passion & addiction.
Brave & forceful!
Bravo!

You lost me with the mothers

I'm not sure who she's talking about but the monsters in the beginning were very different from the monsters in the end. Are you a monster because you send your kids to daycare? I don't think so. Are you a monster because you have a job? Better than no home, food, clothes, and all the other things available with an income.

Interesting Topic, Too Many Sidetracks

I like the parts of the book that stuck with the premise "Can we love the art of people who did bad things?" It starts out well discussing this, but then side tracks into a lot of the author's own memoir, so I felt a little cheated... interesting personal insight but that should be another book. The conclusion seemed to be that we are all monsters so there is no conclusion. Even the narrator (who is the author) seemed to be tired and depressed near the end.

Brilliant!

Well-written and thoughtful. I loved every minute of it. I’m going to recommend it to everyone.

Very well spoken.

I’ve raged in the same places about the pervasive absence of authority and moral checks on the basic bullying our paternal cultures encourage for personal freedom. Claire’s well thought and learned reasoning resounded with me at every reference.

She prepared me to understand my own alcoholic, patronizing trail to self aggrandizement.

A powerful, timely and historically accurate description of our human imperfection.