Claire Dederer Livres

'How rare and nourishing this sort of roaming thought is and what a joy to read' MEGAN NOLAN, Sunday Times 'An exhilarating, shape-shifting exploration of the perilous boundaries between art and life' JENNY OFFILL Pablo Picasso beat his partners. Richard Wagner was deeply antisemitic. David Bowie slept with an underage fan. But many of us still love Guernica and the Ring cycle and Ziggy Stardust. And what are we to do with that love? How are we, as fans, to reckon with the biographical choices of the artists whose work sustains us? Wildly smart and insightful, Monsters is an exhilarating attempt to understand our relationship with art and the artist in the twenty-first century. 'An incredible book, the best work of criticism I have read in a very long time' NICK HORNBY 'Part memoir, part treatise, and all treat' New York Times 'Clever and provocative' Daily Telegraph

From the New York Times best-selling author of Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses, a ferocious, sexy, hilarious memoir about going off the rails at midlife and trying to reconcile the girl she was with the woman she has become. Claire Dederer is a happily married mother of two, ages nine and twelve, when she suddenly finds herself totally despondent and, simultaneously, suffering through a kind of erotic reawakening. This exuberant memoir shifts between her present experience as a middle-aged mom in the grip of mysterious new hungers and herself as a teenager--when she last experienced life with such heightened sensitivity and longing. From her hilarious chapter titles ("How to Have Sex with Your Husband of Seventeen Years") to her subjects--from the boyfriend she dumped at fourteen the moment she learned how to give herself an orgasm, to the girls who ruled her elite private school ("when I left Oberlin I thought I had done with them forever, but it turned out ...they also edited all the newspapers and magazines, and wrote all the books"), to raising a teenage daughter herself--Dederer writes with an electrifying blend of wry wit and raw honesty. She exposes herself utterly, and in doing so captures something universal about the experience of being a woman, a daughter, a wife.

The studio was decorated in a clean, minimalist style, reminiscent of a surgical room, with only Tibetan prayer flags adding color. Despite my aversion to such decor, I removed my shoes, paid my fee, and entered. Ten years prior, Claire Dederer had injured her back while breastfeeding and was encouraged to try yoga by various people. She reluctantly signed up for her first class and fell in love with it. Over the next decade, she tackled various poses, forming friendships with some while developing rivalries with others. As she practiced, she confronted the societal expectations placed on her generation—daughters of mothers who sought self-discovery, striving to be “good” in a world filled with organic lifestyles and attachment parenting. Yoga initially seemed to align with this virtuous path, but as Dederer delved deeper into her practice, she found it challenged her notions of motherhood, friendship, and self-identity. It led her to seek something less structured and more joyful. This book transcends typical yoga literature; it explores life itself with wit and heart, appealing to anyone who has ever attempted to balance their aspirations with reality.

Herz und Ironie! Soll sie nun abstillen oder nicht? Das Kind quengelt, der Rücken schmerzt, ihr Mann heuchelt Interesse. Eine nervöse junge Mutter, gestresst von dem inneren Auftrag, alles richtig zu machen und zugleich gelangweilt von ihrer kleinen Spielplatzwelt. Claire Dederer beginnt, Yoga zu üben, will ein Yoga-Mensch werden, jemand Biegsames, mit innerem Leuchten. Zunächst trifft sie auf eine Gruppe arroganter Mittelschicht-Muttis wie aus einer Schaumbadwerbung. Doch zu ihrer Überraschung führen 'Krähe', 'Rad' und 'Krieger' sie tatsächlich zu einem entspannteren, lebensfrohen Alltag. Eine geistreiche, selbstironische und humorvolle Reflexion des Lebens einer modernen Frau in 23 Yogastellungen.