Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma

Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer is a 2023 book of feminist essays and memoir that addresses the ethical conundrum of how best to consume art made by problematic artists, and more broadly, whether to consume it at all. The book is an expansion of Dederer’s 2017 essay published in The Paris Review, “What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?” Dederer, a former film critic, memoirist, and frequent contributor to publications such as the New York Times, places her personal experiences of art at the center of these ethical questions, writing what she calls an “autobiography of the audience.” Through this form, she explores Objectivity Versus Subjectivity in Art Consumption, an artist’s Biography as “Stain” on their work, and Misogynistic Structures in the Art World. Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma was awarded the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose in 2023, conferred by the Los Angeles Times.

This guide refers to the 2023 Kindle edition of the text, published by Knopf.

Content Warning: This guide contains discussions of rape, sexual assault, pedophilia, suicide and suicidal ideation, antisemitism and racism, anti-trans bias, genocide, domestic violence, and alcohol use disorder.