Grayson Perry

I was hugely disappointed in this book. I've heard Grayson Perry's Reith Lectures (indeed, this book is largely based on this 2013 series), and I've watched him on the television, a sympathetic and perceptive interviewer. But Perry can't write. His chatty informal style, in which his meaning can't be assisted by tone of voice, tempo and style of delivery, renders him unclear and often makes his arguments seem glib. What could have been an interesting book, pointing up the differences in our modern era, when art is to some extent accessible to all, with the past, when wealthy private patrons or the church called the tune became a badly written ramble which I was eager to get finished. In case you're interested, reading this book pretty much uses up the train journey time between Leeds and Bolton.… (meer)

Starting with the good, I love the illustrations throughout this book, I loved the fourth chapter, I Found Myself in the Art World, and I love Grayson Perry as an artist. The fourth chapter is personal, straight, humorous, and has enjoyable anecdotes. The rest, however, is a watered down series of half-observations on what art is, and how it exists in the 'art world'. Although I accept that some of the observations on high art have accuracy, they are too simplified and miss some of the key points that were made by the artists (such as a poorly referenced throwback to Joseph Beuys' idea that everyone can be an artist, or a series of strange insults to the idea of curatorial practice). The writing also meanders away from the central points, and even the humour seems bitter at times when exploring the other themes of the book (what is art? who decides?). So this is just OK, maybe an interesting introduction to contemporary art for someone unfamiliar with art today, but overall not very enjoyable.… (meer)

Very easy to read and although Perry's not saying anything particularly new, it's doesn't reduce the importance of the message surrounding the nature of masculinity - particularly in an ever increasingly automated age and future. Particularly interesting to read after watching his recent documentaries on the same subjects which he touched upon in detail surprisingly little here.

As short as it is, it still feels a little overstretched near the close and I'm not sure I agree with all his conclusions, but this is more of a discussion surrounding the issues than a guidebook for fixing all ills. Feels very weak as well when touching upon women and femininity, not the purpose of the book granted. Interesting read though and a useful primer for hopefully a more mainstream audience on these ideas.… (meer)

I'm a big Grayson Perry fan, his pots, tapestries, and other art, as well as his great documentaries, but I was mildly disappointed in this volume, which didn't tell me anything about masculinity I didn't know. I think its main problem was that it was a book based on his series, rather than the other way around.

It was one of the books discussed at last night's book group (2 males in attendance, relatively silent, unusual). What one of the men did ask though, was who was the book written for, and posited that Perry had written it more for female readers. Perry, as a cross-dresser, admits to being more comfortable with women, Steve thought that we were more his audience. It has some legs, but I don't think it is exclusively so.

Although he doesn't give many suggestions how to achieve it, he believes that there needs to be a redefinition of masculinity, as he suggests most men are flailing around, hanging on to outdated versions of what the male of the species should be in a world that no longer supports those ideas, and with male suicides in the majority in men between 19-46 years old, the change needs to be sooner rather than later.… (meer)