The Art of Cruelty A Reckoning [Paperback]

An important and frequently surprising book& could be read as the foundation for a post-avant-garde aesthetics& Nelson, who is also a poet, is such a graceful writer that I&just sat back and enjoyed the show.[Nelsons] critiques of individual artists are delightfully fierce without being mean spirited& Fascinating and bracingly intelligent&A lean-forward experience, and in its most transcendent moments, reading it can feel like having the best conversation of your life.I hope that critics, and aspiring critics, and those who are interested in the relationship between art and ethics, read [This is criticism at its best.Carolyn Kellogg,