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A review by rex_libris
Grayson Perry: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl by Wendy Jones, Grayson Perry
4.0
Candid and deeply entertaining this is a book to be devoured. Taking his Turner Prize nomination and win as the point of departure, we aren't offered the story of Perry's rise to fame and success. Rather Jones offers us tales from his childhood, life as an art student and young graduate from recorded interviews she and Perry had made years earlier.
Presented is an opportunity to get to know Perry as he is learning to understand himself; as an individual, as an artist and as a transvestite. Depending on who you are and how deeply you engage it could be a window, a doorway or a mirror into the worlds Perry inhabited on his way to being a Turner Prize winning artist.
Perry's voice speaks to us in an erudite manner, confident with wit and humour. The narrative of his formative years and experiences unfold in digestible moments to be savored and enjoyed. There are tales of joy and comfort but many of them are coloured with anxiety and pain. Perry sets them down with thr forthright honesty of a man unashamed of his desires, actions and experiences.
This is where my ambivalence kicks in in. For me, what I enjoyed and found to be the great strength of this book was this forthrightness but perhaps it was also the weakness. The honesty in places felt as though it started to build into a romanticism of 'this is where I came from; this is where I've been' - a blunt and uncritical confession. Perhaps I wanted some deeper reflections, something better and beyond the moments of commentary. A better use of his past than what at times felt like a sloppy and sentimental romp.
[b:Grayson Perry: Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Girl|961537|Grayson Perry Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Girl|Grayson Perry|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320488723s/961537.jpg|946438] is a short and satisfying reading. I was disappointed when it ended simply because I wanted it to be longer, to go further. It's not everything that I wanted but it is enough. It is a book I can see myself returning to again, hopefully to add colour and insight to other writings on the artist.
Presented is an opportunity to get to know Perry as he is learning to understand himself; as an individual, as an artist and as a transvestite. Depending on who you are and how deeply you engage it could be a window, a doorway or a mirror into the worlds Perry inhabited on his way to being a Turner Prize winning artist.
Perry's voice speaks to us in an erudite manner, confident with wit and humour. The narrative of his formative years and experiences unfold in digestible moments to be savored and enjoyed. There are tales of joy and comfort but many of them are coloured with anxiety and pain. Perry sets them down with thr forthright honesty of a man unashamed of his desires, actions and experiences.
This is where my ambivalence kicks in in. For me, what I enjoyed and found to be the great strength of this book was this forthrightness but perhaps it was also the weakness. The honesty in places felt as though it started to build into a romanticism of 'this is where I came from; this is where I've been' - a blunt and uncritical confession. Perhaps I wanted some deeper reflections, something better and beyond the moments of commentary. A better use of his past than what at times felt like a sloppy and sentimental romp.
[b:Grayson Perry: Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Girl|961537|Grayson Perry Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Girl|Grayson Perry|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320488723s/961537.jpg|946438] is a short and satisfying reading. I was disappointed when it ended simply because I wanted it to be longer, to go further. It's not everything that I wanted but it is enough. It is a book I can see myself returning to again, hopefully to add colour and insight to other writings on the artist.