Monsters

consumption of their work? Do we vote with our wallets? If so, is it okay to stream, say, a Roman Polanski movie for free? Can we, um, watch it at a friend s house?

These questions became more urgent as the years went by ­as, in fact, we entered a new era. Here s the thing about new eras: You don t really recognize them as they show up. They re not carrying signposts. And maybe new era is not quite the right phrase. Maybe we entered an era where certain stark realities began to be clearer to people who had heretofore been able to ignore them. One such reality was made clear on October 7, 2016. I sat in my living room, the same room where on sunlit afternoons and black evenings I guiltily lost myself in the films of Roman Polanski, and I watched the Access Hollywood tape over and over.

This was a very specific way of being an audience ­watching something compulsively, as if you could somehow change it or take responsibility for it by keeping your eyes on it. I remembered it from the two Gulf wars, and from 9/11, and before that from my early childhood, when my family gathered around the TV to watch the Watergate trials. As if watching could Do Something.

I drank coffee and ate buttered toast and watched as the Republican presidential candidate talked about grabbing women by the pussy. You don t need me to remind you.

I watched with all the old memories inside my body, the kind of memories so many women have. And the denial of the memories was in there too. The denial was so deep that when I heard . . .

Grab em by the pussy. You can do anything.

. . . I didn t even realize he was describing assault. Didn t realize until I went on social media to monitor the response to the news and some dude named it: This is a

the art of those who do bad things . . . Even when the subject matter tips into the uncomfortable and upsetting, it s such a pleasure to stretch out in a big, nuanced conversation about a topic that can be so easily flattened into wrong and right, good and bad; it s a pleasure to be asked to think." Vanity Fair

The field of criticism claims objective standards that remove the emotional response of the critic from its evaluation. Dederer begins to take apart these claims to objectivity by teasing out the connections between art and its creator and the connections between the critic and their own subjectivity . . . [Dederer] offers instead an embodied form of critique, one that acknowledges that a critic's emotions, physical responses and life experiences come to bear on the ways they judge the work of others.
Minneapolis Star Tribune

An extraordinary and ambitious study of the slippery problems of biography when it comes to consuming art . . . It s a book that s not afraid to say, 'I don t know,' written by an author who isn t afraid of her mind changing as she unpacks everything from Woody Allen s Manhattan to Vladimir Nabokov s Lolita to J.K. Rowling, full stop . . . The book s greatest feat is in its refusal to spit out any absolutes. Nylon Magazine

Dederer s approach radiates humanity or, in other words, subjectivity . . . Throughout the book, Dederer mines the tension between how she thinks she should feel as a feminist, and how she actually feels as an artist; how she wants to feel as a mother, and how she truly experiences motherhood. She isn t afraid to get her hands dirty, approaching these issues with rigorous curiosity instead of intellectual authority and this willingness to challenge her own contradictory thought process is a welcome antidote to the dominant discourse surrounding the work of problematic figures, the societal mandates around which vacillate with the politics of the time." Document Journal

[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." The San Francisco Chronicle

Conversational, clear and bold without being strident . . . Dederer showcases her critical acumen . . . In this age of moral policing, Ms. Dederer s instincts to approach such material with an open mind and heart are laudable. The Wall Street Journal

[Monsters is] profoundly cathartic. The book feels simultaneously like having the deepest, artiest conversation with the smartest people you know and like having an intense shit-talking session with your closest friends." Alta

"The book is tangled and fascinating, chasing down arguments and questions that can t always be easily resolved. Dederer s shrewd, vivid descriptions of movies and books suggest just how much they mean to her and how deeply any sacrifices on the altar of contemporary sexual ethics might cut." Slate

"The rare polemic that s full of greedy love for the good stuff in this world, Monsters is an expansion of Dederer s instant classic Paris Review essay from 2017, 'What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men.' With a larger canvas, she lets both her cast of monsters and our culpability grow, and manages to one-up herself over and over again. Cooly pensive on an overheated subject, Dederer writes powerfully about art s ability to move us, teach us, and entrap us." Bustle

A hot and urgent monologue structured around a problem without a solution. Dederer says out loud the things that are flitting through her mind as she prowls around her snarling beasts, prodding and poking, inspecting their fangs . . . immersive and doubtlessly important. The Times Literary Supplement  (UK)

Smart, funny, and surprisingly forgiving . . . You can t read it without thinking of your own literary loves and hates and wondering how to know the difference. 4Columns

"The masterstroke of Dederer s book is that she doesn t seek to duck her ambivalence. She doesn t try to magic it away by finding an expert or thinking harder, although her book has crystalline intellectual force . . . Denounce Allen or Polanski all she wants, she realizes, their work still calls to her, and from that stubborn fact she has fashioned a book of depth and candor about what it is to be heartbroken by an artist whose work we also happen to love . . . So on point is Monsters: A Fan s Dilemma about the historical moment in which we currently find ourselves, you want to carry it around with you and whip it out at every bar or dinner party" Avenue Magazine

Monsters is extraordinary engaging, enraging, provocative and brilliant. It's like a long conversation with your smartest friend. I am buying this book for everyone I know. Ann Patchett, author of Tom Lake

"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 Women

An exhilarating, shape-shifting exploration of the perilous boundaries between art and life. This timely book inhabits both the marvelous and the monstrous with generosity and wit. Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation

A blisteringly erudite and entertaining read. Dederer holds the moral ambiguity of her subject matter, landing her arguments with precision and flair. It's a book that deserves to be widely read and will provoke many conversations. Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the Fall

Monsters is an incredible book, the best work of criticism I have read in a very long time. It s thrillingly sharp, appropriately doubtful, and more fun than you would believe, given the pressing seriousness of the subject matter. Claire Dederer s mind is a wonder, her erudition too; I now want her to apply them to everything I m interested in so I can think about them differently. Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity

Slyly funny, emotionally honest, and full of raw passion, Claire Dederer s important book about what to do when artists you love do things you hate breaks new ground, making a complex cultural conversation feel brand new. Monsters elegantly takes on far more than cancel culture it offers new insights into love, ambition, and what it means to be an artist, a citizen, and a human being. Ada Calhoun, author of Why We Can't Sleep: Women's New Midlife Crisis

A valuable meditation on some of the era s most urgent cultural questions . . . Emerging from Dederer s reflections is the plain truth that every personal response to art is inseparable not only from the artist s past but also the history of each member of its audience. Library Journal

[An] insightful exploration . . . Dederer s case studies include Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, and Miles Davis, whose work she considers brilliant and important. What s a fan to do? Dederer offers nuanced answers, challenging the assumption that boycotting is always the best response. Booklist

Bringing erudition, emotion, and a down-to-earth style to this pressing problem, Dederer presents her finest work to date . . . Dederer s analysis includes both usual and unusual suspects, often with remarkably original angles. Kirkus Reviews [starred review]

What s a fan to do when they love the art, but hate the artist? asks book critic and essayist Dederer (Love and Trouble) in this nuanced and incisive inquiry . . . There are no easy answers, but Dederer s candid appraisal of her own relationship with troubling artists and the lucidity with which she explores what it means to love their work open fresh ways of thinking about problematic artists. Contemplative and willing to tackle the hard questions head on, this pulls no punches." Publishers Weekly [starred review]

"Despite the heavy subject matter, Monsters is neither rant nor sermon. Dederer is not only an incisive researcher and writer, she s also conversational, approachable and funny. The book seamlessly incorporates bits of memoir Dederer s life in the Pacific Northwest, her experiences as a critic and a woman, her failures that have informed her critical thinking. Yes, Monsters is a worthy addition to contemporary literary criticism, but more than that, it s a very enjoyable book about a thorny, elusive subject." BookPage [starred review]