Tell Me Im An Artist

 By: Chelsea Martin

Location: FIC MAR

Genre: Coming of Age, Art, Young Adult

"What was an artist but someone who wanted to be understood but didn't know how to communicate normally?"

At her San Francisco art school, Joey enrolls in a film elective that requires her to complete what seems like a straightforward create a self-portrait. Joey inexplicably decides to remake Wes Anderson’s Rushmore despite having never seen the movie. As Tell Me I’m An Artist 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.

A masterful novel from an author known for her candid and searching prose, Tell Me I’m An Artist 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.

I genuinely enjoyed this reading! It was the first five star reading I’ve given in awhile, and I thought that it was a fairly quick read because of the way Martin ended up sectioning her paragraphs and fragments. It’s not split into traditional chapters, which works really well but also makes the reading process a lot quicker and smoother. Tell Me I’m an Artist truly is a immersive experience as you are dropped into Joey’s head and are stuck there for the entirety of the novel, seeing everything through a slightly cynical and almost depressed lens. I found this to be a fascinating book at the end of the day, and I may purchase a physical copy for my collection.