Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma

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Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma

Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma

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Dederer has seemingly spent years working on Monsters and yet it is so thin, so ill-researched and, frequently, so crude. Part of her problem is that she struggles to convey the beauty and greatness of much of the art she describes, which makes it all the easier for the reader who disapproves of its makers simply to refuse to engage with it. She’s OK on the movies, and her account of Nabokov’s Lolita is fine (though why Nabokov is here at all, I’m not sure: whatever his most infamous narrator does, the writer committed no crimes against children or anyone else). But once she gets to Picasso and Wagner, she’s in trouble. Picasso, she says, sounding like an overgrown teenager, makes her feel (a favourite word, this) “urpy”. He was such “a rat”. What she knows of Wagner, included in the book on the grounds of his strident antisemitism, seems to be based entirely on a documentary about the composer made by Stephen Fry and Simon Callow’s biography. Dederer] breaks new ground, making a complex cultural conversation feel brand new.”—Ada Calhoun, author of Also a Poet Bringing erudition, emotion, and a down-to-earth style to this pressing problem, Dederer presents her finest work to date. I think there’s a false dichotomy — that we pretend the life of the artist doesn’t matter, or on the other end, that the biography and the art are the same thing. If the art is separate, you’d venerate Polanski. On the other hand, you’d say we can never even show Polanski’s work. Consuming but not institutionally rewarding is possible. We do it all the time. If we have these rules, that seems like a good solution to the problem, but these rules don’t work out well for queer people, women, and it doesn’t serve people.

I have no greater clarity on whether I think works of art should be cancelled or not if their creators are problematic, but my takeaway is … the uncertainty is kind of the point? It’s all about the journey? There are no easy answers to these timely questions. But reading MONSTERS is like exploring them with a very wise and funny friend. I highly recommend it."I cannot refrain from pointing out the wretched irony of JK Rowling being considered monstrous these days. Most of the male monsters were raping and abusing girls and women, of course, and she (misguidedly or not) is all about trying to protect the rights of girls and women. We live in strange times. Some chapters in here were marvelous, in others I thought she could have gone deeper. Sometimes she might get lost too long in very personal moments (like when pondering if not being the perfect mother but also pursuing a writer's career equals neglect), sometimes she got too lost in the artist's deeds and not the bigger picture. But so much of this was extremely profound and thoughtful, so many angles, so fascinating and ultimately helpful to me. Whether it will be helpful to you might depend on your investment, this is not the book that will come with the ANSWER, there is not answer since it is ultimately complicated and very multifaceted, even if certain people don't want to admit that. It is also not a new discussion and it will likely be a never-ending discussion, and your own view point might shift, I am sure mine will which is maybe when I will return to this book. For me the answer is always firmly once I find out somebody has abused their position of power to harm others, their work is forever tainted in my mind. The name Woody Allen, for example, makes my skin crawl. I watched a documentary where Dylan and Mia Farrow spoke out about him and it actually broke my heart, whilst also admiring their courage and strength to speak out so candidly and publicly. No matter how “genius” some of his movies are considered to be, I personally won’t be jumping to put them on anytime soon. We watch the glass fall to the floor; we don't get to decide whether the wine will spread across the carpet.

The author uses the memoir format to trace her own experience feeling betrayed by artists. At one time she enjoyed Woody Allen’s movies, but was relieved to learn of a little free library filled with Woody Allen stuff so she had access to research materials for writing this book without needing to pay for them. This books provides an insight into the human psyche, the human condition - regardless of gender identity. In a world that wants you to think less—that wants, in fact, to do your thinking for you, Monsters is that rare work, beyond a book,that reminds you of your sentience. It’s wise and bold and full of the kind of gravitas that might even rub off.” — Lisa Taddeo, author of Three WomenMonsters is an honest, elaborate meditation on the separation of the art and the artist’s biography and whether or not it is possible at all.



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