Tell Me I'm An Artist

A NPR Best Book of the Year Nylon, A Most Anticipated Book of the Year The Millions, A Most Anticipated Book of the Year "Tell Me I’m an Artist perfectly probes the collision of financial insecurity and artistic self-doubt." —Kristen Martin, A NPR Best Book of the Year “Tell Me I’m an Artist is jammed with dialogue, female friendships, family dramas and Internet search results. ('Lee Krasner,' alongside 'Pop-Tart nutritional value.') Readers might find something of an even more youthful Sally Rooney in these things . . . [Martin's] humor and nuance keep the reader going . . . Though Martin’s novel shows the influence of Rooney’s brilliant ear for dialogue, both online and IRL, Tell Me I’m an Artist is a direct rebuttal to the notion that novelists must ignore precarity if they want to be marketable." —Jessica Ferri, Los Angeles Times "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? . . . Even though Joey doesn’t end up making any great art, her path is a reminder that pursuing one’s vision of an artistic life is its own reward, and a messy personal life is often part and parcel of the art journey." —Anisse Gross, San Francisco Chronicle "This is the great contemporary American novel about class. Martin’s debut captures the often unconsidered ways that class will shape a life you’ve convinced yourself in charge of. [It] also does that magic thing that only the greatest of fiction can do: It makes you think that maybe art can save you." —Emma Levy, A Seattle Times Best Book of the Year "Even while Tell Me I'm An Artist distills some pretty heavy subjects, Martin does so in her signature breezy, humor-infused style. Joey is unapologetically self-deprecating, but completely relatable in her awkward attempts to fit in and discover her artistic purpose." —Chey Scott, The Inlander "A novel for anyone who's ever thought, 'WTF am I doing?' about their art." —Sophia June, Nylon, One of the Must-Read Books of the Month "An intimate, funny, and poignant portrait of a youthful, artful life in flux." —Sarah Neilson, Shondaland "Martin is certainly a duchess if not a queen of autofiction, and lovers of her previous novella Mickey or essay collection Caca Dolce will be looking for her comeback." —Erin Taylor, Observer "Tell Me I’m An Artist argues the forging of identity itself is a creative process. In it, Martin delineates the way the creative process can be a conduit for either self-discovery or self-annihilation . . . Every person, young or old, who has ever wanted to make something will see some part of themselves in some part of [Joey]. What makes Joey’s journey immensely readable is Martin’s obvious empathy for her protagonist and for the act of creation." —Naomi Elias, KQED Arts "Chelsea Martin is one of the funniest writers working today . . . Martin is brilliant at presenting the absurdities of life in a deadpan, but always compassionate (and always hilarious) way. This is a book for everyone who can never quite tell whether everything matters or nothing matters, and wants to feel less alone as they figure out how to create meaning for themselves." —Kristin Iversen, Just Circling Back "An addictive coming-of-age story and a shrewd novel of manners. As Martin brings into focus the contemporary relationship between cultural production and social mobility, her deadpan satire gives way to a big-hearted, boom-box-thrust-in-the-air defense of making art." —Nicole Miller, Hyperallergic "[A] stellar debut novel . . . Martin clearly understand