Six novels featuring women and their art

At B&N Reads Isabelle McConville tagged six "novels chronicling the lives of college students, visual artists, painters, performance artists and more," tales that supply a "peek into the creative mind." One title on the list:

The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner

While we’ve been obsessed with Rachel Kushner’s latest novel Creation Lake for the past few months, we love revisiting her 2013 publication The Flamethrowers. A whirlwind journey through sex, drugs and rock and roll, this novel follows Reno’s recent move to New York. She’s intent on poring over her favorite things in life while she’s there: art, pleasure, and motorcycles. A novel that feels like exploring NYC and Italy alongside its iconic stars like Patti Smith or Julia Fox through a literary style reminiscent of Joan Didion, you’ll race through this critically acclaimed novel about art, speed and social class.

Read about the other titles on the list.

The Flamethrowers is among the Christian Science Monitor's ten best 2013 books for 10 different kinds of book-reading mom.

--Marshal Zeringue