Artstars as Ordinary People

martha cinader
The Artstars by Anne Elliot
Indiana University Press, Publication date: 10/01/2019, ISBN: 978-0-253-04436-5

The characters in the collection of stories by Anne Elliot, entitled The Artstars, have art degrees. For each one you might say that Art is their life but, with one exception, not their livlihood. Any practicing artist in any medium will recognize the existential struggles of the mostly ordinary people who are the Artstars.

The collection of stories, and the lives of the main characters are intertwined. Each story is narrated by a different voice. In the first story, Light Streaming from a Horse’s Ass, the narrator addresses the main character as you. I wasn’t sure if she was talking about herself, or a variation of me or you the Artist. By describing the actions of the main character to the main character, she managed to convey admiration. The narrator is asserting that the process of creating and living with oneself and others is of interest, and might even matter.

These characters are not Rockstars, or Superstars. They are Artstars, twinkling with mystery that they themselves must reveal. But the route is always circuitous and rarely predetermined. The Artstars, with the ordinary challenges everyone faces living in New York City, persist in the face of poverty, ridicule and just plain indifference.

Although the book is a collection of short stories, they come together almost like a novel. There is a sense of the passage of time, a span which includes the events of September 11, 2001. Instead of building to a dramatic revelation near the end, each Artstar experiences some kind of transformation in their approach to life and art.

What’s the point of making art? Why do we do it? No one asks these questions more constantly than artists themselves. For those who gave years to Academia it is, perhaps, an even more poignant question. The Artstars doesn’t provide the answers. The stories do shine a light for those in the throes, and maybe those who just wonder what goes on in the minds of their artist friends.

Related Posts:


  • wildflowers by Beverly Parayno

    wildflowers by Beverly Parayno

    The uncut video interview by Tony Robles in Hendersonville, NC who speaks with Beverly Parayno in Cameron Park, CA, about her book of short stories: wildflowers. Read more

  • Give it to the Light

    Give it to the Light

    Shrink the feeling of shame until it fits in the palm of your hand. Offer it up to the Light of the Universe. Imagine the light absorbing the nasty feeling. See it vanish before your eyes, and feel RELIEF wash though you! Read more

  • Fiction Addiction, Beverly Parayno, Edwin Torres

    Fiction Addiction, Beverly Parayno, Edwin Torres

    Jill Hendrix, owner of Fiction Addiction bookstore. Beverly Parayno author of wildflowers. Edwin Torres, spoken word. Read more

  • Wednesday, May 24 on WPVM 103.7 FM

    Wednesday, May 24 on WPVM 103.7 FM

    Hosted from WPVMfm 103.7 in Asheville, Wednesday at 4pm, featuring a conversation about books and the book business with Jill Hendrix, owner of Fiction Addiction bookstore in Greenville, SC. Tony Robles speaks from Hendersonville, NC with Beverly Parayno in Cameron Park, CA, about her book of short stories: wildflowers Read more

  • Gun Talk

    And here, 3000 miles away in the warehouse where I work, they are talking guns Read more

  • Reebee dedoo dada

    The uncut video interview by Tony Robles, who speaks with multi-media artist Filey Matias, author of Reebee dedoo dada, Redhawk Publications, a story of song and the freedom to be oneself! Reebee, dedoo, dada is a book about bullying and how it takes a village to beat one. Read more

%d bloggers like this: