Non-fiction Book Group Reads ‘monsters: What Do We Do With Great Art by Bad People?’ by Claire Dederer

Our book group is open to all. Attend every meeting, occasionally or just once in your life. All we ask is that you read the book in advance and take part in the discussion. There’s a short introduction by a member of staff, a group regular, or someone we know with a special interest in the book in question.

This quarter we’re going to be discussing one of our best selling non-fiction books, Monsters by Claire Dederer. Diving into the question of: can you separate the art from the artist?

What do we do with great art by bad people?  

How are we, as fans, to reckon with the biographical choices of the artists whose work sustains us?

Wildly smart and insightful, ​Monsters is an exhilarating attempt to understand our relationship with art and the artist in the twenty-first century.

In this unflinching, deeply personal book, Claire Dederer asks: Can we love the work of Hemingway, Polanski, Miles Davis, or Picasso? Should we love it? Does genius deserve special dispensation? Is male monstrosity the same as female monstrosity? Highly topical, morally wise, honest to the core, Monsters has incited a cultural conversation about whether and how we can separate artists from their art.

Refreshments provided

Our book groups – Fiction (monthly), Pagan (bi-monthly), Non-Fiction (roughly quarterly) and our  NEW Irish book club