Claire Dederer

Essayist, critic, memoirist

I’m the bestselling author of three critically acclaimed books: Monsters, Love & Trouble, and Poser.

With Peter Ames Carlin, I’m currently co-writing a biography/cultural study of Bob Dylan; the book is slated to come out from Doubleday in 2029.

My writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Paris Review, The Guardian, Vogue, The Nation, Slate, The Atlantic, Marie Claire, New York magazine, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and many many other publications, lots of which are now, alas, defunct. My book Monsters grew out of a viral essay I wrote for The Paris Review titled “What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?”

I’m the recipient of The Chowdhury Prize in Literature, The Los Angeles Times-Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose, a Hedgebrook residency, and a Lannan Foundation residency.

I speak regularly on art, art-making, and writing at museums, universities, MFA programs, and libraries.

I’m the proud mom of two incredible adult human beings. I live in Seattle with my sweetheart.

Please scroll down for further news about me and my work.

Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma

A New York Times Notable book and a national bestseller. Named a best book of 2023 by The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Fresh Air, Elle, Esquire, Kirkus, Electric Lit, Apple Books, Audible, The Sunday Times, Vulture, Oprah Daily, San Francisco Chronicle, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Publishers Weekly, and Chicago Tribune. Winner of The Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose.

"Excellent ... A work of deep thought and self-scrutiny that honors the impossibility of the book’s mission."

—Melissa Febos, The New Yorker

“Monsters is extraordinary … I am buying this book for everyone I know.”

—Ann Patchett, author of Tom Lake and Bel Canto

“Monsters is a dazzling book.”

—Stephanie Zacherek, Time magazine

“Superb … smart, informed, nuanced and very funny.”

—Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air

“Part memoir, part treatise, and all treat.”

—Alexandra Jacobs, The New York Times

“Instead of rushing to the barricades of ongoing culture wars, Dederer offers – and enacts – a way of thinking that acknowledges the ever growing diversity of intellectual and moral life.”

—Pankaj Mishra, The Guardian

“Monsters is an incredible book, the best work of criticism I have read in a very long time.”

—Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity, About A Boy, and Dickens and Prince