The Art Fair

by David Lipsky

The son of an aspiring artist, young Richard Freeley is compelled to protect his mother when she falls out of social popularity, a decision that costs him the innocence of his adolescence and young adulthood. A first novel. Tour.

Genres: Fiction, Art, Novels

271 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

David Lipsky is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Magazine Writing, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, and many other publications. He contributes as an essayist to NPR's All Things Considered, and is the recipient of a Lambert Fellowship, a Media Award from GLAAD, and a National Magazine Award. He's the author of the novel The Art Fair, a collection of stories, Three Thousand Dollars, and the bestselling nonfiction book Absolutely American, which was a Time magazine Best Book of the Year.

Reviews

[Nelda Brangwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard choses to live with his artist mother in NYC after the divorce, and his childhood is like few others experiences. It’s filled with art shows, art critics and other artists. He’s a great narrator to tell the story of a great has-been artist dependent on art critics for her livelihood. Richard shares the jealousies and attempts at one-upsmanhip in the art world. The story is poignant and satisfying even for someone like me who says “get over it and get a real job so your child can enjoy his childhood!”

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once, long ago when we were young, Geoff told me about an article on T.S. Eliot's influence on Shakespeare. That is, even with Shakespeare coming chronologically first, one reads T.S. Eliot, one reads Shakespeare, one's feelings on T.S. Eliot can influence one's thoughts on Shakespeare. What supercedes what? Does it even matter?

And so we come to The Art Fair, a re-release of a book from 1996, and if a publisher is going to re-release a book from 1996 in 2014 (yes I slacked on reading this and getting the review out; it's like a year late) about a boy and his mother in New York City at the core and, more often, at the fringes of the art world, it's hard not to see this a cynical grab at getting The Goldfinch's readers' attentions and money. Even though, obviously, The Art Fair's original publication date predates The Goldfinch's by a decade.

(T.S. Eliot? Shakespeare? I'd link to that article if I could find it. I mentioned it to Geoff yesterday. He remembers telling me about it too.)

So we have The Art Fair, a muddle of an author's first attempt at the Great American Novel:

* a lyrical and ethereal childhood so rudely interrupted;
* a wunderkindness in the narrator's voice;
* attempts at bettering one's social station;
* an uneasy relationship with his father;
* the mother as a concept; and of course
* a confused male narrator meant to be every man.

We may as well keep adding bullet points for first novel problems:

* complete disregard for POV, with Richard, our narrator, narrating things that happen far outside his line of sight;
* thousands of vaguely identical characters (all of whom are clearly slightly fictionalized versions of people from the New York art scene of the seventies and eighties, not that I have any knowledge of that scene or know who anyone was supposed to be). For awhile, I searched through my ePub when names came up to remember who they were. Then I stopped. Having a decent idea of who these people are doesn't matter at all to the plot;
* the first fifty percent, almost exactly (don't you love those percentages in your e-reader), takes place over twenty-one years. The last fifty percent over two days. Like background, then action, a short story that got stretched out into a novel.

In short, we have a book all of potential, nothing in execution. I mean:

"In all the time I have known her ..."

is a phrase Richard applies to his mother. In all the time he has known his mother? Do people in New York really talk like that? It's a phrase used for an acquaintance, not a blood relative you've been with since birth.

In any case, Joan, the mother, gets into the art world by mimicking the style of another artist. This book mimicks, and badly, The Goldfinch, even though I know that it can't really be doing that at all. But, read a book about the cynical art world, that cynicism is going to leach out of me into my review I suppose.

The author hung out with DFW, so I love him for that. I think his later writings will be a treat, but this is just too sticky and lumpy to really want to have a go on.

The Art Fair by David Lipsky was re-released on sale August 26, 2014.

I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Hillary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed review here. There's an original story here, but I felt like there was a little too much Oedipal subtext going on.

[Mojo Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Infinite Jest and Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, it was only natural to read David Lipsky’s debut novel.

It came out around the same time as Infinite Jest and was a complete commercial failure. But Lipsky got to spend a few days with DFW shortly after the publication of both books, and he even gave DFW a copy of The Art Fair to read. Lipsky was definitely experiencing some jealousy of DFW around this time. Near the end of their conversation — as portrayed in the movie The End of the Tour — DFW said something along the lines of “It’ll be nice to spend some time in your head for a while.” So, despite Infinite Jest getting all the fanfare between the two of them, it’s interesting to read what came from Lipsky’s perspective.

Overall, it was slightly better than I expected. It’s a drastically less ambitious book than Infinite Jest — almost the polar opposite in that respect, which makes for an interesting contrast when rewatching the movie or reading Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself. But I liked the voice of the main character and it kept me pretty engaged. It was a simple, easy read.

The structure is sort of interesting, with the first half taking placing over many years and the second half occurring over just a few days. It probably didn’t succeed commercially because it’s about such a random and niche topic: the art world. And boy, Lipsky certainly makes sure to use the phrase “the art world” as many times as he can. It became almost humorous how many times he lamented about “the art world.” It’s a pretty boring subject matter in theory, but it was an engaging character study about a boy who’s sort of forced into the “art world” because of his mom, so it’s all from his sort of childlike, naive perspective. And there are some interesting dynamics at play between the main character and his mom, who have an unusually close bond. I couldn’t care less about “the art world,” but I found most of this book to be pretty enjoyable.

The added context of the DFW connection probably bolstered the reading experience for me too. It’s also a fun fact that Lipsky is an alum of Stuyvesant High School, the same school that my dad and Requiem for a Dream writer Hubert Selby Jr. went to. Selby, though, didn’t graduate from there, as he dropped out of school at 15 and almost died as a teenager and was a drug addict for a couple decades before turning his life around as a writer.

The next book I plan to read is The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo.

[Helen Varley · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was reasonably ok for the first half - the story of an unusual childhood with an artist mother, divorce, a child's view of the new york art scene. then it went somewhere weird. the protagonist is an unlikeable, arrogant, superficial and snobby young man with an oedipus complex, who seems to think he can read people's innermost thoughts and motivations by a quick glance at their facial expressions and body language. there is an unnecessarily large cast of forgettable and undeveloped characters - apparently it's meant to be a homorous satire on the new york art scene of the 1970-80s, so perhaps if you're familiar with that scene there may be more meaning to it; but i am not.

the female characters in the story are objects, described mainly by their clothes and physical appearances. the protagonist's pervy fixation on his mother is irritating and her responses to him are sometimes inexplicable, while his personality-free girlfriend is laughingly unbelieveable. [SPOILER ALERT] what "beautiful and clever" young woman drives three hours to an art fair to confront her boyfriend of three years who dumped her without a word six weeks earlier - and then doesn't confront him, but rather makes excuses for him and is all too eager to take him back without any kind of explanation or apology. why would she choose to do this at such an event, and how did she know he would be there, as they haven't spoken for six weeks? why would she even want him back when it's clear he is a control freak with an unhealthy obsession with his mother? and since she's so beautiful and clever that she can understand all of this, surely she's smart enough to have an inkling of what he might be like with his wife. she would know that, really, she's had a lucky escape.

the writing style is generally readable, but is full of odd syntax, unfinished sentences, and random mid-paragraph topic switches. often i had to read a sentence a couple of times and still wasn't quite sure of the meaning. metaphors are used to excess - some are great, but others seem to be just there for decoration, adding little to the story. also used to excess is the long dash - indiscriminately and inconsistently. there are about six on an average page. perhaps it's a device to show the scattered processes of a slightly psychotic young man's brain, but it feels like the book has bypassed the editorial process. at least it's relatively short.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I became aware of this book due to the author's association with David Foster Wallace and specifically due to his portrayal by Jesse Eisenberg in the 2015 film The End of the Tour.

All in all, I enjoyed the book. It was beautifully written and put me in mind of a Victorian novel but with modern day English idioms and phrasing.

The book is possibly a Roman a clef and possibly a Bildungsroman. It's definitely a roman-a-something anyway.

A better alternative title for the book would be "Confessions of a Momma's Boy" because the closeness between Richard and Joan is... well actually pretty creepy. This is possibly the most oedipal novel I've ever read and I say this as someone who read Kakfa on the Shore only two weeks ago.

Honestly, for most of the book I was half expecting Richard and his mother to end up sleeping together. Spoiler: They don't, thank god, but the sexual tension between them is definitely simmering and it's not a comfortable thing to think about.

Actually I read somewhere that this might be autobiographical and if so, I'll be looking sideways at David Lipsky from now on.

My major criticism of the book however is how thin on plot it is. I got about halfway through the book and realised that actually nothing has really happened and nor is there any sign of anything likely to happen any time soon.

Luckily, unlike other similar books (*cough* The Corrections *cough*), the Art Fair doesn't overstay its welcome. Yes it sags a little in the middle, but the prose is so charming that it still carried me through to the end and did so within two days.

The book's strength lies firmly in the actual writing, which is vivid, moving and... 'funny' isn't quite the right word, but it's certainly amusing. The novel also excels in its depiction of the various characters and the sordid pretentious world of arty-farts.

3.7 stars, rounded up to 4.

[maddie good · Rating 4 out of 5]

surprisingly, the first half of this book was my favorite; the second half slowed down significantly and I was a little less invested in the plot (which centered more heavily around the art world than family conflict), but still enjoyed it. the narrative was largely character focused (which I love), and the only thing that threw me for a loop was the odd oedipal conflict, especially as the main character matures.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this novel did accurately portray the insularity and egotism of the art world, but it wasn't a particularly exceptional storyline. The character of the mother and son were well-developed, but it would have been interesting to have some of the story told from the mother's persepctive.

[Isabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

well...Richard was always loyal to his mother... a painter, perhaps a narcissist in my opinion... a complex relationship, where Margaret is the only one capable of understanding this complexity... an interesting book, easy to read but intense in its story and characters!

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some interesting moments in this novel, but about midway through, I began to wonder "why am I reading this?"

[Thomas St. John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome read. A mother and son team getting through life. Very touching and true to life.

[Emily Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rom com between David and his mom. Great prequel for his rom com with DFW.

[Lizzie Healy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very character focused story - life of a mother and son. Also a cool look into the world of artists.

[Beth Peninger · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Open Road Media for this free copy. In exchange for a copy I am giving an honest review.

First published in 1996, Lipsky's debut novel has been re-released and this is my introduction to Lipsky.
It's a story of Richard, and his mother Joan. Once upon a time Richard was part of a family. There was his dad, his mom, his brother Jon, and then him. But one summer Joan started painting in an attempt to be a well known artist. The paints eventually drove a distance between she and her husband and they divorced. A few years down the road Richard is living with her and has this compulsion to be her caretaker. As time goes by and she rises up and then falls down in the world of art, Richard belief that he is her caretaker grows. It grows to such a place that it becomes unhealthy for both Richard and Joan. He puts his life on hold for the pursuit of making her a name. But a time comes, as it always does, where Joan and Richard need to part ways and get on with their own lives. You may think that Joan, as the Mom, would struggle the most with the cutting of the cord but in a twist it's Richard who is having the harder time. The Art Fair is a play on words. Yes, Joan and Richard went to more art openings than they could count but they both find out that the art world isn't all that fair.
As I said, I have never read Lipsky before and I enjoyed it. He writes a simple and good story. He has characters that the reader can relate to. He developed the relationship between Richard and Joan so well that I could almost see the facial expressions, hear the tones of voices, and view the body language. Lipsky has only written this one novel. He's written one other fiction book, a collection of short stories. Otherwise he is a non-fiction author. But he can write fiction as well. I'm interested to see if he write any more fiction in the future.

[Ella Hopkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

skimmed the last 100 pages. this book felt like a debut, sometimes the flowery language was beautiful and sometimes it was like jesus christ i get it. i thought it would be about art but it’s just gossip girl but adult painters instead of high schoolers. and ofc the pointless incesty turn it took. don’t recommend

[Kevin Krein · Rating 1 out of 5]

when david lipsky rose to a level of literary fame five years ago thanks to his DFW interview being published, i wondered why this book was not reissued to capitalized on that success.

now i know why.

this book has sat on my shelf for over a year after i found it at a used book store in red wing, mn. i kept putting off reading it for the simple fear that i was worried it wouldn't be very good. "wouldn't be very good" is putting it lightly. this is, without a doubt, one of the worst fucking books i have ever read in my entire life.

where do i begin? do i begin with the main character's horrible oedipus complex? do i begin with lipsky's awful, sloppy "conversational" style of writing? do i begin with the unlikable and boring characters? or should we talk about his overuse of italics to emphasis certain words in conversations? i mean, nobody really talks like that do they?

this book was unfortunately reminiscent of another book about mothers and sons that i read a number of years ago- "Oh The Glory of It All," which was also horrible and an absolute chore to go finish. i gave up on reading "The Art Fair" with roughly 60 pages left, just because i couldn't stand the protagonist's narration anymore.

as the product of a divorce and having been raised by a single mother, you'd think i would identify with something like this. but no. there was nothing redeeming or worthwhile in this book and reading 2/3rds of it was a waste of my time.

[Steev Hise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really nice memoir-like novel about growing up, divorce, being a parent to your parent, and the art world. On the last topic the book is really quite funny, and is at a level of clever snarkiness that borders on mean-spirited. The portrayal of the the cutthroat social struggle of aspiring art stars and dealers is one of the most biting and frank that I've ever read, with an undercurrent of bitterness and rage that makes me certain Lipsky's own childhood was seriously scarred by that scene.

The book does in a way what all of the best fiction can do - inspire empathy and understanding, perhaps as far as identification, even in readers whose own experience is far removed from what's depicted. In this case, my own relationship with my mother couldn't be farther from the narrator's with his mother, and in fact the idea of standing up my girlfriend on her birthday because I'm waiting for a call from my mother is just about the most foreign idea that I can think of (in fact I'd readily do the opposite, in a heartbeat, to be honest). Yet somehow by the second half the story has swept me along into a mental state where it all makes sense.

If I could give fractional stars, I'd have to say this is a 4.5, because it's really a quite simple and uncomplicated novel, formally, but it expertly accomplishes its relatively unambitious goals, so I've rounded up.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in less than a day and not because I had the time. I have an intimate connection with the art world and several of my friends are in the thick of working for it. Secondly, the prose is so expertly written. Parts funny/anxiety-inducing/tear-squirting. He is really gifted at making acute insights toward the everyday particularly his insight on the airline crew. The party scene is the most memorable as his mother is coming into fame and Richard--assigned coat collector for the evening-- just needs to use a toilet.

[LC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess if you don’t want your kid to major in art, this is the book that will probably put them off the art scene. It was interesting (and probably factual), but kind of a downer.

Two things the author did that were off-puting: excessive use of italics, and foreshadowing ominous events that never happened.

[Graham Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lipsky does a fantastic job of taking a story that revolves around a childhood and making it immensely pertinent to the entire life of the reader. I had a hard time putting it down, I'm a big fan of stories that underscore the odd intimate rollercoaster relationships between family members.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Someone recommended I read this book before attending Art Basel this summer. I was expecting more about art fairs themselves, but nonetheless is was entertaining.

[Lori K. Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written.

[Karen]

Got this after seeing the movie with David Lipsky but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe because I read it after some seriously amazing writers? I'll try this author at another time.