Welcome to Litsy!

It's no spoiler to reveal that there's no handy graph with great art on the X axis and monstrosity on the Y axis. What it does have is an ample selection of ethical chew-toys. She discusses themes such as: who gets to be considered a genius? How do we ascribe monstrosity differently to male and female artists? Who the hell is included in "we" anyway? To what extent does "our" individual, subjective judgement have any meaning? I liked it a lot.

I put this on hold after looking at all the Gaiman on my shelves and thinking “here we go again.”There is much to discuss regarding the art vs the artist but this was not what I was looking for. I found the equivalencies of monsters troubling. Women wanting space from childcare to work given the same consideration as Polanski? To me, it had less real reflection on the potential responsibilities of consumers and more tangents and biographies.

His current reads: all non-fiction.

My 10 favorite books of 2024. Number 10.

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Can you love art by a person who has done despicable things? This is what Dederer is looking into focusing on among others the movies by Polanski and Woody Alan, the novels by Hemingway and the art by Picasso. This also leads to a discussion on the genius. Who is defined as a genius? And what comes first the genius or the great art? And also looking into the biggest sin a female artist can make, abandoning her children even if male artists to it

I‘m just gonna leave that as it is

Why does all this matter? Because genius informs our idea of who gets to do what. Who gets to have license. Who gets to give in to their impulses. Whom we choose to aid and abet when they do indulge in those impulses. When genius is tied to masculinity - a masculinity that continually reasserts itself - then someone is being left out.
All of which is to say, the genius is not you. Not me. The genius, as we understand it, is not the person who

'We imagine we would've been that person, the one who would've written the letter, who would've spoken out, would've hidden the Jews, would've provided the stop on the Underground Railroad.
We say this to ourselves as the world literally burns, as militarized police forces murder citizens, as children are held in camps at our own borders.'

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= 16 points