Monsters, A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer

I felt like this book was the perfect final stop in my unexpected Roald Dahl rabbit hole (it was introduced in the Podcast). After seeing Giant and binging The Secret World of Roald Dahl, I found myself wrestling with the same question at the center of Dederer’s book: what do we do with artists whose work we love but whose behavior or beliefs we find disturbing?

The book does not offer easy answers, which is probably why I liked it. Dederer explores the uncomfortable gray area between admiration and disgust, especially when art becomes deeply tied to our memories and identity. That tension certainly applies to Roald Dahl for me. His stories and movies were woven into my childhood and later into my family’s life as well. Learning about his antisemitism does not erase that, but it undeniably changes it.