Their books or songs may be touching and wise, but (in the parlance of criticism) it is a biographical fallacy to assume that the work reflects an artist's life or beliefs.
You would say: " Oh, dear, that was a bit of a put-down" , if someone has said something that sounded as if they were criticizing you, and made you feel about that big.
" To deride" is to say or possibly to write something about someone or something that is very critical and perhaps insulting – to say that someone isn't very smart or that a certain government policy is stupid.