Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer

7 reviews

grunbean's review against another edition

adventurous informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I don’t read non-fiction, this was an exception for a book club. After reading this, I definitely want to try reading more memoirs!

I feel it is important to read this as a memoir as opposed to an essay. While there is analysis and plenty of examples referred to, this reads as a reflection of the author’s own experience with engaging with art created by bad people. Not all the artists are talked about at the same length, and you’ll find that there’s a lot of kinds of monster in here. 

I did find some of the examples of female artists confusing. They don’t generally equate to the literal crimes written about for male artists. It does add some balance, though, if this is in here for balance it may have been interesting to explore queer examples too.

I really enjoyed this, and I liked the conclusion it came too. It definitely encouraged me to think more about the parasocial relationships with artists, and how we can reconcile this when they’re revealed to be bad people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Rape

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, and Alcohol

aburns2's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

hedgielib's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

larajgriff1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

3.0

Unfortunately my expectations and hopes for this book were vastly different than what I experienced.  I wanted a more broad view of how "monstrous" artists affect their fandom and what the group as a whole or individually moves forward.  This book is much more personal to the writer and more of a memoir of her life and how she relates to different artists than the effect of their actions on the world.  

However, I cannot fault the author for the book not being what I hoped.  It is written very well and does make some good points about how these moments and artists affect us.  Though in the middle of the book she seems to be "existential crisis-ing" in circles and it doesn't feel like there is momentum again until the last few chapters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

this is a book about people who do terrible things. It is hard to avoid anything, but I did skip a full chapter because I was so uncomfortable with the crimes of an artist.

probablyshannon's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

milesjmoran's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Antisemitism, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

brunonadamas's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense

4.0

An excellent book, very well written. I can’t agree with the concept that it doesn’t make a difference if I still support an artist that has done terrible things. It makes a difference in my life. 

The fact is that there are so many great artist that have made the choice to not do things as a result of their torment. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol