Twelve books about the long road to becoming an artist

Antonia Angress was born in Los Angeles and raised in San José, Costa Rica. She is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Minnesota MFA program, where she was a Winifred Fiction Fellow and a College of Liberal Arts Fellow. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband, the artist Connor McManus.

Sirens & Muses is her first novel.

At Electric Lit Angress tagged twelve "Künstlerromans, novels about an artist coming into maturity," including:

The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker

Mel and Sharon meet during their first week at art school and quickly become inseparable, forging a friendship and creative partnership that culminates, years later, in a critically acclaimed animated film. But with success comes trouble, and soon their partnership is threatened by addiction, self-doubt, and long-buried resentments. In recent years there’s been an Elena Ferrante-fueled boom in novels about thorny female friendships, but The Animators adds another intriguing layer, exploring the dynamic between two women who are not only friends but also business partners and creative collaborators.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Animators is among Rebecca Kauffman's top ten musical novels.

My Book, The Movie: The Animators.

The Page 69 Test: The Animators.

--Marshal Zeringue