The Animators: A Novel
Jan 2017 · Random House
4.2star
4 reviewsreport
Ebook
384
Pages
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About this ebook
“A wildly original novel that pulses with heart and truth . . . That this powerful exploration of friendship, desire, ambition, and secrets manages to be ebullient, gripping, heartbreaking, and deeply deeply funny is a testament to Kayla Rae Whitaker’s formidable gifts. I was so sorry to reach the final page. Sharon and Mel will stay with me for a very long time.”—Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, author of The Nest
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
Entertainment Weekly • NPR • Kirkus Reviews • BookPage
She was the first person to see me as I had always wanted to be seen. It was enough to indebt me to her forever.
In the male-dominated field of animation, Mel Vaught and Sharon Kisses are a dynamic duo, the friction of their differences driving them: Sharon, quietly ambitious but self-doubting; Mel, brash and unapologetic, always the life of the party. Best friends and artistic partners since the first week of college, where they bonded over their working-class roots and obvious talent, they spent their twenties ensconced in a gritty Brooklyn studio. Working, drinking, laughing. Drawing: Mel, to understand her tumultuous past, and Sharon, to lose herself altogether.
Now, after a decade of striving, the two are finally celebrating the release of their first full-length feature, which transforms Mel’s difficult childhood into a provocative and visually daring work of art. The toast of the indie film scene, they stand at the cusp of making it big. But with their success come doubt and destruction, cracks in their relationship threatening the delicate balance of their partnership. Sharon begins to feel expendable, suspecting that the ever-more raucous Mel is the real artist. During a trip to Sharon’s home state of Kentucky, the only other partner she has ever truly known—her troubled, charismatic childhood best friend, Teddy—reenters her life, and long-buried resentments rise to the surface, hastening a reckoning no one sees coming.
A funny, heartbreaking novel of friendship, art, and trauma, The Animators is about the secrets we keep and the burdens we shed on the road to adulthood.
“Suffused with humor, tragedy and deep insights about art and friendship.”—People
“[A] stunning debut.”—Variety
“A compulsively readable portrait of women as incandescent artists and intimate collaborators.”—Elle
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
Entertainment Weekly • NPR • Kirkus Reviews • BookPage
She was the first person to see me as I had always wanted to be seen. It was enough to indebt me to her forever.
In the male-dominated field of animation, Mel Vaught and Sharon Kisses are a dynamic duo, the friction of their differences driving them: Sharon, quietly ambitious but self-doubting; Mel, brash and unapologetic, always the life of the party. Best friends and artistic partners since the first week of college, where they bonded over their working-class roots and obvious talent, they spent their twenties ensconced in a gritty Brooklyn studio. Working, drinking, laughing. Drawing: Mel, to understand her tumultuous past, and Sharon, to lose herself altogether.
Now, after a decade of striving, the two are finally celebrating the release of their first full-length feature, which transforms Mel’s difficult childhood into a provocative and visually daring work of art. The toast of the indie film scene, they stand at the cusp of making it big. But with their success come doubt and destruction, cracks in their relationship threatening the delicate balance of their partnership. Sharon begins to feel expendable, suspecting that the ever-more raucous Mel is the real artist. During a trip to Sharon’s home state of Kentucky, the only other partner she has ever truly known—her troubled, charismatic childhood best friend, Teddy—reenters her life, and long-buried resentments rise to the surface, hastening a reckoning no one sees coming.
A funny, heartbreaking novel of friendship, art, and trauma, The Animators is about the secrets we keep and the burdens we shed on the road to adulthood.
“Suffused with humor, tragedy and deep insights about art and friendship.”—People
“[A] stunning debut.”—Variety
“A compulsively readable portrait of women as incandescent artists and intimate collaborators.”—Elle
Ratings and reviews
4.2
4 reviews
Linda Strong
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March 30, 2017
Sharon and Mel have been friends since their college days. They both work in the field of animation. And they are as different as much as they are alike. One is quiet, but ambitious. The other is brash and forward. After 20 years of working on their art, they finally have a full-length work of art to share with the world. It's all about their lives.... the trials and tribulations of making a place in the mostly male dominated field. It's a story about friendship and love and resentment, and secrets. The best part of the book was the very beginning .. a story in itself about how they met and became such good friends. The rest of the book is okay ... but I didn't find the two women all that interesting. As far as their animation , I found some of the descriptions hard to understand and wound up skipping through a lot of pages. There were flashes of humor and a lot of self exploration from Mel and Sharon. Honorable Mention: The author added a very personal touch when sending me the book. It is filled with post-it notes ... drawings, inspirations, personal information... that I found priceless! Many thanks to the author / The Literary Box from Quarterly.co. for this debut novel. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
About the author
Kayla Rae Whitaker was born and raised in Kentucky. She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and of New York University’s MFA program, which she attended as a Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholar. She lives in Louisville. This is her first novel.
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