The Subtle Art of Appreciating 'Difficult Beauty'
About this episode
In this guest-hosted episode, MacArthur Fellow and Times columnist Tressie McMillan Cottom talks with philosopher and writer Chloé Cooper Jones about her memoir 'Easy Beauty.' Jones, who lives with a congenital limb difference, distinguishes 'easy beauty' — instantly pleasing to the senses — from 'difficult beauty,' which demands sustained attention, drawing on philosopher Bevis's framework. They discuss how her disabled body has been read by others: narratives of disability as tragedy, inspiration, or invisibility; a fraught dating scene; and the freedom she felt at her son's birth. Jones describes how Iris Murdoch's idea of 'unselfing' — truly attending to something outside yourself — underpins her philosophy of seeking beauty. She reads from the book's Miami chapter and closes with three book recommendations, including Rosemarie Garland-Thomson's work on staring.