Book SummaryMonsters, by Claire Dederer

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Monsters

Great art can change your life—but learning about the artist’s sordid past can change how you view their art. So argues Claire Dederer in Monsters, published in 2023. As a memoirist and art critic, Dederer offers an insider’s look at the thorny question: Can we love the art if we loathe the artist? She doesn’t offer easy answers. Instead, she examines how our emotional responses to art are shaped by our knowledge of the artist’s behavior, and what that says about our own morality, identity, and...

Monsters Summary What’s a Monster?

Dederer says that when we call someone a monster, we mean that they’ve violated a moral boundary so profoundly that they no longer seem fully human. She explains that this term signals our desire to distance ourselves from their misdeeds—actions so grave we believe we’re fundamentally incapable of doing the same thing. In this book, she isn’t concerned with everyday monsters—average people who commit terrible crimes—who are easy to condemn and forget about. Instead, she focuses on great artists who are also monsters. These people are harder to dismiss because we’re simultaneously moved or inspired by their art and repulsed by their private actions.

The Origins of Monsters

Dederer argues that calling someone a monster is a way of drawing a moral line: It says, “That person is not like us.” But where does this term come from, and why do we use it that way? According to some anthropologists, monsters appear in every culture. For most of history, people used the word to describe mythical creatures with both human and animal qualities—like...

Monsters Summary Why Do Monstrous Artists Trouble Us?

Dederer argues that the cultural conversation about monstrous artists is misframed. We believe that we’re debating whether it’s morally acceptable to consume their work—but actually, we’re more concerned with the emotions their work stirs in us after we’ve learned about their misdeeds. These emotions are complex for two reasons—first, because of the personal nature of our roles as fans, and second, because contemporary politics are highly charged. In this section, we’ll explore each of these reasons in greater detail.

Our Roles as Fans

Dederer argues that our emotional turmoil over monstrous artists stems from two interlocking roles we play in relation to art: the emotional admirer and the ethical consumer. These roles often conflict, which makes it hard to decide what to do with art made by flawed people.

The Emotional Admirer

Dederer explains that when we fall in love with a piece of art, it becomes part of us on a deep, emotional level. It shapes our tastes, memories, and identities. It also helps us form communities. For example, consider Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight books and accompanying movies. At the series’s height, Twilight fans turned...

Monsters Summary How Do We Respond to Monstrous Artists’ Work?

As we’ve discussed, our complicated emotions about monstrous artists make it difficult to know how to engage with their art. We’ve covered a lot of ground so far, so let’s review the two most common solutions to this problem and the problems Dederer points out with each. We’ll also describe the third option Dederer introduces and explore three lessons to keep in mind if you choose to take it.

Three Options

The first option some of us choose is to judge the art by its own merits, stifling our horror at the artist’s behavior. But the emotional repression this approach demands negates part of our connection to the art—the feelings of anger, betrayal, or grief it arouses in us. And Dederer points out that for many people, especially those whose identities or experiences are directly impacted by the artist’s wrongdoing, this kind of detachment isn’t possible or fair to expect.

Second, some of us choose to reject the art entirely. Dederer argues that we do this because we don’t want to support or enable the artist’s bad behavior, but it’s an ineffective strategy. It won’t have much of an impact, if any, on the larger systems that promote that behavior, and it robs us of the...

Shortform Exercise: How Do You Handle Monstrous Artists?

Dederer says we have three options for dealing with art made by monsters. In this exercise, you’ll reflect on each option and determine which one might be right for you.

Have you ever chosen to separate an artist’s personal actions from their work (option 1)? Why or why not?

Shortform Exercise: Reflect on Monstrosity

When we call people “monsters,” we imply that they’re fundamentally different from us—that we could never commit the kinds of harm they have. Dederer argues that this belief is an illusion because the capacity for wrongdoing exists in everyone. In this exercise, you’ll reflect on both of these ideas.

Think of someone you’ve labeled a “monster,” or one of the monstrous artists Dederer discusses. What qualities do you believe set them apart from yourself or most other people?