I don’t think there is an easy answer. I don’t think we’re obligated to shun the work of people with different (or even abhorrent) political views — in fact, I think we all lose if we never encounter divergent views, but I might be a bit more likely to check out such an author’s book from the library rather than buying a hardcover.

I didn’t know Lovecraft was racist. It makes me not want to know anything about an author, which can really take away from their work sometimes. It’s almost easier to treat the book as its own entity.

I completely agree about nice or rude authors I’ve met in person. I will recommend a book I haven’t read if the author was kind and gave a great reading.

It’s both a shame and a blessing that the line between the work and the worker, so to speak, is frequently so blurry in art and literature. H.P. Lovecraft challenges many of his fans with the same dilemma, given his attitudes on race. For every instance where an author’s background enriches the reading of a seminal work, you’ll come across something distasteful that may have the opposite effect.