Tell Me What You See (2022 book)

{{Short description|Fiction collection by Terena Elizabeth Bell}}

{{Infobox book

| name = Tell Me What You See

| author = Terena Elizabeth Bell

| language = English

| country = United States

| genre = Experimental literature

| published = Dec 8, 2022

| publisher = Whiskey Tit

| image =

| caption = Book cover

| alt = Cover of the book showing black letters of title in form of an eye chart over the image of a person with one eye shut

| pages = 143

| isbn = 9781952600227

}}

Tell Me What You See is a short fiction collection written by Terena Elizabeth Bell. The book is Bell's first{{Cite press release |last=Sova |first=Deeanna |title=Media Release | date=December 1, 2022 | work=Hopkinsville Christian County Public Library | location=Hopkinsville, Kentucky |url=https://7b06a4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-HCCPL-Author-Discussion-Terena-Bell.pdf}} and was published on December 8, 2022, by Whisk(e)y Tit,{{Cite news |last=Strand |first=Karla J. |date=2022-12-06 |title=December 2022 Reads for the Rest of Us |language=en-US |work=Ms. |url=https://msmagazine.com/2022/12/06/feminist-books-writers-women-lgbtq-december-2022-reads-for-the-rest-of-us/ |access-date=2023-02-03}} a Brooklyn-based literary press. It contains ten short stories{{Cite web |last=Rothman |first=Melissa |title=UofL Libraries: Earth Day 2023: New and Noteworthy |url=https://library.louisville.edu/ekstrom/earth_day/newandnoteworthy |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=library.louisville.edu |language=en}} of multiple genres.{{Cite web |author=ITW |date=2022-11-30 |title=Tell Me What You See by Terena Elizabeth Bell |url=https://www.thebigthrill.org/2022/11/tell-me-what-you-see-by-terena-elizabeth-bell/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=THE BIG THRILL |language=en-GB}} The title story, "Tell Me What You See," is a 2021 New York Foundation for the Arts City Artist Corps winner{{Cite news |last=Torian |first=Jazmine |title=Author to be featured at Christmas Tea |url=https://www.kentuckynewera.com/news/article_bb4cc9eb-d66b-5b6d-a820-9d7e5affa81a.html |access-date=2023-02-03 |work=Kentucky New Era |language=en}} and the first fiction published about the January 6th attack on the US Capitol.{{Cite news |last=Fitzgerald |first=Dave |date=2023-01-16 |title=Dave Fitzgerald Reviews Terena Elizabeth Bell's Story Collection Tell Me What You See |url=https://heavyfeatherreview.org/2023/01/16/tell-me-what-you-see/ |access-date=2023-02-03 |work=Heavy Feather Review |language=en}} Other stories are about climate change,{{Cite web |date=2022-12-01 |title=Arts & Climate Mosaic |url=https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/reports-and-data/research-studies-publications/americans-for-the-arts-publications/arts-link-magazine/arts-climate-mosaic |access-date=2023-02-03 |work=Arts Link Magazine |language=en |publisher=Americans for the Arts}} early COVID-19 pandemics in New York City{{Cite news |last=Novick |first=Nancy |date=2022-12-20 |title=Neighbors Who Write – 2022 Edition |language=en-US |work=West Side Rag |location=New York City |url=https://www.westsiderag.com/2022/12/20/neighbors-who-write-2022-edition |access-date=2023-02-03}} and Kentucky,{{Cite news |last=Parton |first=Chea |date=2023-01-18 |title=Tell Me What You See by Terena Elizabeth Bell {{!}} Episode 2 |url=https://literacyinplace.com/2023/01/18/tell-me-what-you-see-by-terena-elizabeth-bell-episode-2/ |access-date=2023-02-03 |work=Dr. Parton's Literacy in Place |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Boggs |first=Jerry |date=2024-12-15 |title=Terena Bell demonstrates the weight of words with debut collection |url=https://www.centre.edu/news/terena-bell-tell-me-what-you-see-short-story-collection |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=www.centre.edu |publisher=Centrepiece |language=en}} and other 2020–2021 events.{{Cite interview |date=2022-09-30 |title='Tell Me What You See:' An Interview with Author Terena Elizabeth Bell |url=https://www.agoodbooktoendtheday.com/post/tell-me-what-you-see-an-interview-with-author-terena-elizabeth-bell |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=A Good Book to End the Day |subject=Terena Elizabeth Bell }}

The stories from Tell Me What You See are largely experimental in nature.{{Cite interview |interviewer=Gabriela Pereira |title=Ep. 441: Experimental Story Collections – Terena Elizabeth Bell |url=https://diymfa.com/podcast/episode-441-terena-elizabeth-bell |access-date=2023-02-03 |work=DIY MFA |date=2022-12-21 |subject=Terena Elizabeth Bell |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Jennifer P. |date=2022-12-16 |title=Sinking Fork native returns home to promote debut short story collection |url=https://hoptownchronicle.org/sinking-fork-native-returns-home-to-promote-debut-short-story-collection/ |access-date=2023-02-03 |work=Hoptown Chronicle | location=Hopkinsville, Kentucky }}{{Cite web |last=Cerézo |first=Arvyn |date=2023-06-13 |title=Will AI Threaten Publishing Jobs? |url=https://bookriot.com/ai-and-publishing-jobs/ |access-date=2023-06-13 |website=BOOK RIOT |language=en-US}} Many incorporate news photographs and original drawings from both the pandemic and Capitol events.{{Cite news |last=Alexander |first=Constance |title=Terena Bell compels readers to focus with latest work 'Tell Me What You See' |language=en-US |work=Northern Kentucky Tribune |url=https://www.nkytribune.com/2023/01/constance-alexander-terena-bell-compels-readers-to-focus-with-latest-work-tell-me-what-you-see/ |access-date=2023-02-03}}{{Cite news |last=Lutwick-Deaner |first=Rachel |date=2023-01-20 |title="Tell Me What You See" Is A Timeless Collection About Unprecedented Times |url=https://southernreviewofbooks.com/2023/01/20/tell-me-what-you-see-terena-elizabeth-bell-review/ |access-date=2023-02-03 |work=Southern Review of Books | publisher=Queen's University of Charlotte |language=en}} Others make use of footnotes,{{Cite web |title=Terena Elizabeth Bell's Playlist for Her Story Collection 'Tell Me What You See' |url=http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2022/12/terena_bells_pl.html |access-date=2023-02-21 |website=largeheartedboy.com}} multiple languages,{{Cite web |title=Largehearted Boy: Terena Elizabeth Bell's Playlist for Her Story Collection "Tell Me What You See" |url=https://largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2022/12/terena_bells_pl.html |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=largeheartedboy.com}}{{Cite web |title=Terena Elizabeth Bell |url=https://www.authorsanswer.com/interviews/terena-elizabeth-bell |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=Authors Answer |language=en-US}} hypnotic syntax, and the literary technique of erasure.{{cite interview |interviewer1-first=Jennifer Anne | interviewer1-last=Gordon | interviewer2-first=Allison | interviewer2-last=Martine |title=VOX VOMITUS with Terena Bell, author of TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0ZJu1wsYpM |access-date=2023-02-03 |publisher=Authors on the Air |date=December 7, 2022 |subject= |via=YouTube}}{{Cite news |last=McQueen |first=Jordan |date=2022-11-07 |title=Review of TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE by Terena Elizabeth Bell |url=https://atticusreview.org/review-of-tell-me-what-you-see-by-terena-elizabeth-bell/ |access-date=2023-02-03 |work=Atticus Review |language=en-US}}

Critical reception

Rachel Lutwick-Deaner of the Southern Review of Books at the Queen's University of Charlotte wrote, "Readers will easily compare Bell with many greats of our time" and "Bell’s collection is not only a testament to what a fine author can do with a difficult time in history, but it is a work that transcends time and circumstance." Jordan McQueen of Atticus Review wrote, "The places where the gimmicks transcend to become genuinely innovative tools...make the collection well worth the cost of admission in my view."

On his KPFK show "Bibliocracy," Santa Monica Review editor Andrew Tonkovich said the book's "exciting embrace of nearly every available form both challenges the expectation of story and fully engages its opportunities, demands and, lately, urgent requirements."{{Cite web |title=Terena Elizabeth Bell on Tell Me What You See |url=https://www.bibliocracyradio.org/episodes/terena-elizabeth-bell-on-tell-me-what-you-see |access-date=2023-06-02 |website=Bibliocracy Radio |language=en-US}}

Critic Samantha Ryan of Pine Hills Review agreed with Tonkovich's view, writing, "These stories are demanding. They confront the reader with the weight of past loss and the fear of an unknown future," adding that "despite their challenging nature, the pieces were deeply therapeutic."{{Cite web |last=Ryan |first=Samantha |date=2023-06-28 |title="When I woke up, I thought 'that's a story'": An Interview with Terena Elizabeth Bell |url=https://pinehillsreview.com/2023/06/28/terenaelizabethbellqa/ |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=Pine Hills Review |language=en}}

Karla Strand of Ms. listed it in her "December 2022 Reads for the Rest of Us", and described the stories as "unique and potent," adding "its varying formats eerily illustrate the look and feel of our times." In the United Kingdom, publishing industry magazine The Bookseller included the title in its December 2022 "Discover" preview selections.{{Cite web |title=The Bookseller – Preview Comments – December 2022: Discover Previews |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/comment/preview-comments/december-2022-discover-previews |url-access=subscription |access-date=2023-02-03 |work=The Bookseller}}{{verify source|date=April 2023}}

In September 2024, the New York Society Library listed Tell Me What You See as one of the "Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far)," alongside titles by Neil Gaiman, Alice Hoffman, Colm Tóibín, and others.{{Cite web |title=More Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far) {{!}} The New York Society Library |url=https://www.nysoclib.org/blog/more-best-books-21st-century-so-far |access-date=2024-09-27 |website=www.nysoclib.org}}

Tell Me What You See (2022 book)

Critical reception

References