The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning

This
is one of the best works of criticism in recent memory. Nelson
examines everything from Yoko Ono’s weird performance art to the
contemporary horror flick in a sweeping attempt to understand the nature
of cruelty in art and determine how moral beings might navigate a world
enriched and complicated by it. Her voice is incendiary, sensitive,
and thoroughly unpretentious. Though I was a fan way back at Jane: A Murder, The Art of Cruelty put Maggie Nelson on the map as a thinker to watch.Kim