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Tell Me I'm an Artist
- Author
- Chelsea Martin
- Narrator
- Devon Sorvari
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 20 September 2022
- Run Time
- 7 hours 15 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
This hilarious and incisive coming-of-age novel about an art student from a poor family struggling to find her place in a new social class of rich, well-connected peers
At her San Francisco art school, Joey enrolls in a film elective that requires her to complete what seems like a straightforward assignment: create a self-portrait. Joey inexplicably decides to remake Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, despite having never seen the movie.
As this story unfolds over the course of the semester, the assignment hangs over her as she struggles to exist in a well-heeled world that is hugely different from any she has known.
Miles away, Joey’s sister goes missing, leaving her toddler with their mother, who in turn suggests that Joey might be the selfish one for pursuing her dreams. Meanwhile, her only friend at school, the enigmatic Suz, makes meaningful, appealing art, a product of Suz’s own singular drive and talent as well as decades of careful nurturing by wealthy, sophisticated parents.
Perfect for fans of Elif Batuman’s The Idiot and Weike Wang’s Chemistry, this masterful novel examines the invisible divide created by class and privilege, ruminates on the shame that follows choosing a path that has not been laid out for you, and interrogates what makes someone an artist at all.
Critics Review
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“Narrator Devon Sorvari captivates listeners with her magnificent portrayal of Joey…It’s a joy to listen to Sorvari’s wondrous portrait of a young woman who is learning to trust others and finding her path. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
AudioFile
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“Perfectly probes the collision of financial insecurity and artistic self-doubt.”
NPR
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“The great contemporary American novel about class. Martin’s debut captures the often unconsidered ways that class will shape a life.”
Seattle Times
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“A novel for anyone who’s ever thought, ‘WTF am I doing?’ about their art.”
Nylon
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“It’s the larger feminist question ungirding these pages that gives the book its weight: What do women owe their families? And what happens when they cut those ties to become artists?”
San Francisco Chronicle
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“A resonant and moving portrait of an artist searching for her identity.”
Chicago Review of Books
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“The art school comedy of manners gives way to a deeper story…An unconventional and subtly powerful coming-of-age story.”
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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“An intimate, funny, and poignant portrait of a youthful, artful life in flux.”
Shondaland
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“A stunning, hilarious, perfect ode to growing up and growing into yourself…A masterpiece and a piece of comedic genius.”
Literary Hub
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“Delineates the way the creative process can be a conduit for either self-discovery or self-annihilation.”
KQED Arts (San Francisco)
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“Actress Devon Sorvari’s deft narration conveys the pressures on Joey, poignantly expressing her inner thoughts and wry humor.”
Library Journal (audio review)
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”Explores a vital love story not often told—that of an artist’s passionate, tumultuous, and often absurd relationship with her art.”
Hallie Bateman, author of Directions
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“Anyone who has ever tried to do meaningful work in spite of a growing suspicion that nothing matters will find a home in this hilarious, heart-piercing book.”
Emily Gould, author of Perfect Tunes
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Chelsea Martin
- Narrator
- Devon Sorvari
- Duration
- 7 hours 15 minutes
- Release Date
- 20 September 2022
- ISBN
- 9798212228725
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Narrative theme: Coming of age, Fiction: general and literary, Feminism and feminist theory, Fiction: general and literary, Family life fiction
Synopsis
This hilarious and incisive coming-of-age novel about an art student from a poor family struggling to find her place in a new social class of rich, well-connected peersAt her San Francisco art school, Joey enrolls in a film elective that requires her to complete what seems like a straightforward assignment: create a self-portrait. Joey inexplicably decides to remake Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, despite having never seen the movie.As this story unfolds over the course of the semester, the assignment hangs over her as she struggles to exist in a well-heeled world that is hugely different from any she has known.Miles away, Joey’s sister goes missing, leaving her toddler with their mother, who in turn suggests that Joey might be the selfish one for pursuing her dreams. Meanwhile, her only friend at school, the enigmatic Suz, makes meaningful, appealing art, a product of Suz’s own singular drive and talent as well as decades of careful nurturing by wealthy, sophisticated parents.Perfect for fans of Elif Batuman’s The Idiot and Weike Wang’s Chemistry, this masterful novel examines the invisible divide created by class and privilege, ruminates on the shame that follows choosing a path that has not been laid out for you, and interrogates what makes someone an artist at all.
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