Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer

13 reviews

jainabee's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I am so glad this book exists because I NEEDED it. It needed to exist in the world. The question of how to balance fandom of my favorite works of creativity with the toxic and destructive behaviors of the creators is an issue that torments me. Dederer directly addresses some of my own pet monsters; Woody Allen, David Bowie, JK Rowling, Miles Davis. This book makes me think a LOT. This book is very uncomfortable in a vitally important way. This book challenges me in ways I needed. The chapter comparing and contrasting Valerie Solanas and Sylvia Plath (!!!!!) flipped my wig with the brilliance of unexpected insights about how women respond to the violence of misogyny. The chapter about Lolita is a sparkling gem of brilliant insight and analysis that might be the best review of it I've ever read (spoiler alert: Nabokov is not a monster, though he is a genius). This book is FULL of triggering content, as it describes the crimes of the creators. No way around that. The point of the book seems to be to face the monsters directly and feel the extremely uncomfortable dilemma between loving something, even the monster, "even after everything." I got a lot to think about here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Rape, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Child abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Abandonment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Pedophilia, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Racism, Mental illness, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Classism, Drug abuse, Cursing, Grief, Murder, Racism, War, Xenophobia, Genocide, and Hate crime

Minor: Drug use, Death of parent, Dysphoria, and Fire/Fire injury

I need to read this book again. And probably again.

heyitsshan's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Drug use, Infidelity, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Addiction, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, and Sexual assault

bookmindedmag's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

For those who sensitive to certain subjects, I included content warnings. The writer discusses some of the terrible things done by the men/women she discusses in the book so take care. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Violence, Alcoholism, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

badmom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Dederer tackles a seemingly impossible question - How do we separate art from artist? - with layers of other questions that made me think deeper than I ever have on this topic. She explores all of the ways she (and most of us) has tried to make sense of loving art created by monstrous people; she shares her own experiences along with research of how scholars and laypeople alike have approached this dilemma. The result is this compilation of painful truths & personal revelations kindly blended with psychology and brief portions of politics & economics. 
Despite its rich breadth & depth, this study flows beautifully and offers valuable insights in its trek to answers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Rape

Moderate: Violence, Alcoholism, Suicide, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Pedophilia, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Transphobia

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Drug use, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Antisemitism, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Suicide, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Racism

shinysarah28's review

challenging reflective

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Misogyny

smfaehnle's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Racism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Sexism, Misogyny, Rape, Suicide, Abortion, and Abandonment

dexkit10's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Abandonment, Rape, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

bi_n_large's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Racism, Death, Murder, Antisemitism, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

natalietan's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Antisemitism, and Abandonment

Moderate: Gun violence and Emotional abuse