I imagine any woman who has lived in the last 10 centuries or so would enjoy this book. I hope some insightful men would as well.
Nicole Tersigni apparently used twitter to hone the artful style of her reactions to the condescending comments men all too often bestow upon women. Twitter, as with life, was a rich source of subject matter. Men submitted a good deal of material with which Tersigni could experiment. And women loved her artful tweeted responses.
Now she has given us this delightful small book of beautiful artwork appropriately captioned so as to make a reader sure she knows exactly what the woman in the painting is feeling when the man or men in the painting give her their valuable, unsolicited thoughts.
Women, if you need something to get you through the sameness of COVID-19 stay-at-home days, this book is it. I laughed till I cried at some of the depictions and chuckled, smiled, nodded and sighed over the rest.
Tersigni has carefully chosen artworks in which the women, and the men, have those expressions (especially in the eyes) and body-language we have sensed on our own faces & bodies or seen on those of others. Oh, yes, we have been there. And somehow, it's a great relief to think...know...that women have shared those feelings for centuries.
Men - we're aware there are plenty of you who do not speak or think like these men, usually, but you know you have friends or acquaintances who do. It’s a fact of life. We also know that men could surely write something similar about women's comments to men. That's all part of why this is so delicious. Most of us (I hope) have enough self-knowledge to laugh knowingly at this, and to leave pondering the many other ways in which men and women amuse and frustrate each other. Hmm, maybe “Men to Avoid in Art and Life” as a gift for next Feb. 14, or an anniversary, or to a good friend; let someone know you know.
Thanks to NetGalley, Chronicle Books, and Nicole Tersigni for a great read.
Many will return to it again and again - for a laugh, for reassurance.

Fun way to enjoy art, and also laugh about common situations involving mansplaining. Will appeal mainly to woman, but perhaps also those who enjoy history and art.

I loved the insight into the seducers and thieves of the human heart that you find in the pages of this light hearted look at art. It gives you a behind the curtain look at how many famous people came to be immortalized on the frame. It was so fun to read the backstory. The longing in some of the paintings were no more than frat boy antics of their day. It was a refreshing look at art history. Happy reading

** A copy of Men to Avoid in Art and Life was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review **

As someone who is a feminist and loves art history, this seems like a match made in heaven! I loved the dry, sarcastic humour of the captions; they perfectly complemented the choice of art. This is a fun quick read and I highly recommend it if you want to rage (and laugh) at the reality of our patriarchal misogynistic world.

'Men to Avoid in Art and Life' by Nicole Tersigni is a series of memes comprised of famous art and cringy things men say.

The book starts with a foreword by comedian Jen Kirkman. The book is then divided into sections with titles like The Mansplainer, The Concert Troll and The Patronizer. Each features a classic painting and something dumb that men say to women, like the best way to breastfeed or sit or play cards.

They are pretty demeaning things to say made ironically hilarious by the frilly artwork. I laughed more than a few times, and self-reflected a lot. The book ends with an appendix with art credits. It is a pretty quick read though, so probably makes for a better gift book than anything else.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Chronicle Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Ah, this hilarious book of alternative art history was so filled with laugh-out-loud reminders of the mansplaining, patronizing Men on Whom I Wasted My Youth.

Recommended for any woman in need of more ironic laughter in her life.

I know that "laugh out loud funny" is a cliche, but I really did LOL all through this book. The chapters: The Mansplainer, The Concern Troll, The Comedian, The Sexpert, and The Patronizer. If you are a woman, you've met one or all of these men in real life. Seeing the hilarious captions and Twitter memes on classic paintings is brilliant.




https://tonireads.com/2020/08/11/men-to-avoid-in-art-and-life/

I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. All opinions are my own.
I chose this randomly because it was available to "Read Now," and the concept seemed hilarious. And it definitely delivers. While I definitely would not say all of the attitudes commented on apply to men exclusively, in the context of being applied to classic paintings featuring overly enthusiastic, "helpful" men and somewhat irritated women, highlighting the fact that women were almost definitely the ones with the real brains all along, and men have always been threatened by that.

art babes unite! I didn’t know I needed this book ‘til I read it. The humour was biting and 100% on point with the classic European paintings. Unfortunately, I know you too know these male characters all too well.
If there’s one thing I’d change, it’s the placement of the information about the paintings so that it’d be easier to access.

I could not download this book. even after using NetGalley suggestions. I am sorry, the book looks to be very interesting.

ARC provided to me via NetGalley and the Publisher for review.

As someone who studied art history for a long time, it was fun to see Nicole Tersigni's twitter thread mixing wry commentary on mansplaining and sexism with paintings. There are times when wished the captions and paintings fit together a little better, and times where I wished the concept went a little further, or got a little absurd. I've seen memetic art history jokes worthy of books before, and I think this could've been pushed further to really match the energy of the original thread. The jokes are good - fine, and predictable, there's no actual art history given (some of these paintings are really well chosen for the commentary here, but you'd have to know the context of them to get that). If someone gave me a physical copy, I'd display it next to my art history book titled "Butts." Which is just close-ups of butts in paintings and statues. They'd be a fitting pair - exactly as they say on the tin, and not much more.

This is such a gem! I absolutely love the snarky and sarcastic comments and how well the comments fit with the pictures. I'll never look at art the same way again! I loved how this books was ignited by a Twitter thread about the experiences of women in life and online. Would definitely recommend as a gift to others, and also sounds like such a fun activity to do when art museums open up again

This book is hilarious and you should read it. That’s it. That’s the review.
In case you weren’t sure, it’s definitely funny and made me laugh. A lot.

A fun little book. Fine art paintings that have been turned into meme's and captioned. This is an enjoyable book that puts words to the faces and the expressions from paintings. If you have ever imagined what what the subjects of a painting might be saying, this is the book for you.

The title of the book made me very interested in laying down with a tasty beverage and devouring it immediately. In the beginning I thought it was very funny, but then it started to feel too real and the laughter died. The message is clear and straightforward, but as a book, this is much too basic to be of any real value. First, I would have liked more content, more "jokes" if I may call them that, but also a bit more curation in regards to the connection between the text and the image. I liked how art is a path towards this topic, but some historical contexts presented in works of art are not suitable for modern topics such as feminism and equality - you simply cannot think about history with modern ideas, it's not how this works. Then, the lack of actual text and any sort of information coming from the ... author (?) was completely missing and that's just not a good idea. I would have liked more substance to this book, more analysis both in terms of art history and also in the real life situations presented as jokes. I do understand this isn't the kind of book i was expecting, but it's a shame because it only shows an idea, shows its potential and then disappoints with the execution.

I had a great time reading this book, and I think I'll flip through it often: it was so funny and accurate! I completely recognize some situations I lived, and could completely identify with the women's expressions sometimes! I also really loved the choice of paintings: it made me want to learn more about them and about art in general! It's a very quick read, worth it for the laugh and the relevance!

This was a fun, quick read that pairs classic art with modern conversations between men and women. We see these paintings through the lens of “The Mansplainer” or “The Concern Troll.” I chuckled throughout. The layout of the book is great, making it easy to flip through or read in one sitting.

Thank you to the author, Chronicle Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is not a book to read as such, but to dip into and enjoy. I found it amusingly snarky, with the side effect of realizing how many classical paintings lend themselves so very well to this pursuit of putting words into the subject's mouths - and how many paintings could said to be peopled by inveterate mansplainers. .

I found Men to Avoid in Art and Life by Nicole Tersigni to be both spot on and also a bit disappointing. Sounds odd, I know, but such is life.

I think one of the disconnects for me was the number of times when the comments simply didn't match the period of the painting. I don't expect something that might have actually been said in, say 1750, but some comments just seemed so out of context that the sarcasm, which needs to rely on some element of reality, is dulled. The same comments over more contemporary images, even ones from the early 1900s, would have hit home more readily.

The comments themselves were absolutely accurate and are the things we used to discuss in Women's Studies classes I took and taught. These are not really exaggerated very much for comic effect. Men, we really do make these types of foolish comments based on amazingly selfish assumptions about how things work.

Basically, I found the more effective ones, for me, were the ones where the comments could fit the situation portrayed. But what amounts to office-based misogyny presented in a clearly social setting just missed the mark for me. That said, on rereading and just looking at the comments and the facial expressions while bracketing the rest of the scene it was much better.

I recommend this because I think my personal issues with it are more about what does and doesn't bother me with humor in general, while others will have different ideas about what works for them. Like I said, the comments and the situations, very broadly speaking, are far more accurate than I wish they were. This is definitely one where we are laughing at not with the men, justifiably so.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

Two things I wasn't overly fond of first to get it out of the way.

1) The titles of the artworks and the artists were included in the back of the book, not in a caption under the artwork. The back also included the location of the original artwork, but not the year it was created. I rather have the date, title and artist under the picture for immediacy, rather than having to flip back and forth, which is really annoying in an eBook.

2) I seriously hope that the captions were jokes and not things the author and other women have actually heard from men, because if so, we are doomed as a society.

Now, for the good. The artworks were all new to me, and they were enchanting and excellent choices IMHO. I plan on looking into them more fully, to learn about the artists, the history of the paintings, etc. So HUGE bonus for not choosing works that have been done to death already.

Also, some of the pictures were just PERFECT to go with the caption. For example, on page 14, "At Mouquin's" by William Glackens, the female in the picture, her body language, the look on her face, the way she is gripping her right arm with her left hand as if she is struggling not to back-hand the man next to her, it is absolutely gorgeous and perfect with any caption of a man being insulting and annoying.

Page 87, "The Duet" by Charles van Bevern, the lady looks PISSED. Again, perfect compliment to the words put into the man's mouth. I will be looking at all artwork in a different way now, focusing on the faces and body language of the women and imagining what they may be feeling under what the artist was trying to portray, or maybe actually trying to portray.

This book is rather harsh towards men, but the forward makes it clear that it's not directed to all men, just those who actually think like the comments in the book. Which I severely hope is only a few, really vocal, clueless idiots, and not the majority of them.

Honestly, the comments kind of irked me, but the artwork saved this book from dislike on my part. I have a soft spot for art, having studied it in school many moon ago, so this book was a favorable "read" for me. I am glad that the information on the artwork was given, despite it being at the end of the book. I wish they included how they came across these particular pieces and why they were chosen over others. I would like to know the thought process behind the decision making for what would be paired with what.

This may not be for everyone, I can see the comments irking some and if art isn't your thing, then this might be a pass for you. But if you love art, even if the humor doesn't tickle your funny bone, the art and the rabbit hole it may lead you down could be well worth your time.

3.5 stars, 5 for the art, 2 for the commentary, to average to 3 stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.