Can you separate the book from the author?

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CW: discussions of sexual assault and other crimes, racism, antisemitism, and other forms of bigotry, as well as Zionism (all in reference to books and authors from the 19th/20th centuries, rather than to current news).

Can you separate the book from the author? The art from the artist? What do we do with books that were written by people with views that we disagree with or who have done things we find morally objectionable? Can we entirely put these scruples aside and appreciate art on it's aesthetic merits alone? If not, and we stop consuming all art created by people who have done or said things we don't like, will there be any art left? Can we make some kind of rule or sliding scale (severity of crime vs. greatness of art...?) that will work for every situation? What about when the art was formative for us and holds a very important place in our life? What about when the art is based on something that really happened? What about when the offense the artist committed is something that we have personally survived? 

You might not be surprised to learn that we were not able to answer all these questions and solve the world's problems in this episode! But, we did grapple mightily with these questions and ended up in a place we both feel comfortable with. Will you feel the same? Listen to find out!

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Books we're reading in this episode:  
In Love with George Eliot by Kathy O'Shaughnessy
Portrait of a Scotsman (A League of Extraordinary Women series book #3) by Evie Dunmore
Babel by R.F. Kuang
The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood And Ash Series Book #3) by Jennifer L Armentrout
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Sources listed in the order they appear in the ep:  

• https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/11/20/art-monstrous-men/  
• https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/feb/10/zionism-deronda-george-eliot
• https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/silly-novels-by-lady-novelists-essay-by-george-eliot
• https://www.cbc.ca/radio/sunday/the-sunday-edition-september-9-2018-1.4806985/the-forgotten-real-life-story-behind-lolita-1.4807124 
•  https://hazlitt.net/longreads/real-lolita

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Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves.

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