44 pages • 1 hour read
Claire DedererMonsters: A Fan's Dilemma
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
In the prologue, Dederer sets out to write an “autobiography of the audience” (14). Do you think that Monsters achieves this goal? Why or why not? Cite specific examples from the text to support your argument.
In the context of Dederer’s metaphor of Biography as “Stain,” consider an artist important to you that might fit into the category of Dederer’s “monsters.” Write an essay considering your relationship to that artist and their work, and how you navigate the challenge of consuming art made by someone with a problematic biography.
Dederer struggles with the word “we” throughout the text, expressing an aversion to it at the same time that she uses it frequently. Discuss Dederer’s use of “we” in the context of the book’s central tension: Objectivity Versus Subjectivity in Art Consumption.
Compare and contrast the male and female figures Dederer puts forward as “monsters.” What role does gender play in Dederer’s construction of the “monster” and how does it inform her analysis of Misogynistic Structures in the Art World?
Read Dederer’s original essay, “What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men,“ published six years before Monsters, and compare it with the book. How have Dederer’s ideas and language evolved in the years between these two publications? Which excerpts of the original essay have been preserved in the book, which excerpts did not make it into the book, and what is significant about these passages?
Dederer’s home in Seattle makes frequent appearances throughout the book. How does Dederer relate the art she consumes to the space she consumes it in? How does she relate the art she makes to the space she makes it in?
Monsters locates itself within the context of the #MeToo movement, which brought to light the predatory behavior of many prominent figures from many disparate fields. Do you think Dederer’s analysis applies to other categories of “monstrous men,” such as politicians, scientists, businessmen, or even ordinary community members? Why or why not?
Are you satisfied by Dederer’s conclusion that loving art made by “monstrous” people can mean setting your judgment aside? Explain your reasoning citing examples from the text.
The title of Chapter 11, “Lady Lazarus,” refers to a poem with the same title by Sylvia Plath, published in Ariel in 1965. Read and analyze that poem in the context of Dederer’s writing about Sylvia Plath in Monsters. Why did Dederer choose to name this chapter after that poem?
Discuss Dederer’s book as both analysis and memoir. How do the passages in which she focuses on her shortcomings relate to the passages about the shortcomings of other artists? Do you think her fixation on the issue of her own monstrosity adds to or takes away from her larger arguments?
