The Animators

Contemporary fiction (2017) - two women, each with traumatic childhoods, meet in their college introductory drawing class, become instant friends and then partners in creating animated indie films (typically at the expense of family members who don't come off well). Mel, a lesbian with substance abuse issues, grew up at her aunt's swamp farm in Florida after her addict mother went to prison; Sharon seems cursed to always be attracted to the wrong men and would rather not be reminded of her childhood in Kentucky.

A frenzied and chaotic pace hurtles the women and their fragile/complicated friendship towards disaster, but you can't stop reading. Also, hard to stop thinking about once you finish--one heck of a debut novel.

A story about kindred spirits and the making of art. The story was raw and beautiful and felt so true. It made my heart swell. And break. But the book feels like a real friend, the one who makes you see that a broken heart and a broken body isn't the end. There is so much here about the ethics of art and vulnerability and responsibility to oneself and others, told in an urgent way that is never preachy. None of that selfish genius shit. I finished this on a commute and tried not to bawl in public.

Probably really 4 1/2 stars, but I'm rounding up because I adored it.

This is a book that passes the Bechdel test with flying colors: two women who unabashedly put their art above everything else in their lives. Does that make them heroic? No, and Whitaker unsparingly details what happens to the people who are caught up in Mel and Sharon's pursuit of their art (as well as the effects on Mel and Sharon themselves). But Whitaker also doesn't judge the artists at the center of this book. There aren't easy answers to the question of how they should live their lives. They may not be right, but they are also not wrong.

Mel and Sharon are written beautifully and feel very real. Highly recommend this book if you are looking for a character study show more of difficult and accomplished women. show less

A clever and assured first novel that doesn’t take the easy way out or go for the cliche when portraying female friendship. Even though it is raw and unapologetic in its depiction of substance ab/use, sex, and family strife, there is heart, warmth, forgiveness, understanding and sacrifice.

I liked that the women were single-minded in their pursuit of art, something many a novel has been written about men, but not so much about women. And neither of them whined about not being married, having kids or being “unfulfilled” as a woman. Biology wasn’t an issue the way it becomes in many a story about women, something I personally think is overdone and boring. Not all of us are slaves to the lowest common denominator of all life on show more earth. Also, the writer didn’t put huge chips on their shoulders about how women might be treated in the world of animation, a field most-likely dominated by men. Nope. These women just got on with it; followed their vision and created art on their own terms.

Mel and Sharon each have their own distinct story arcs, yet their essential identity as a team is not lost. What each goes through affects the other and there are repercussions. Each changes and morphs as a result. Their characters change a bit; they grow and learn from their problems, but the essential core of each woman is preserved. Mel is still a hard-driving force, bent on her own destruction out of hidden insecurity. She puts that aside to care for Sharon in her hour of need which was a great thing to see. Sharon continues to second-guess her own talent and contribution to the work but in the end comes to recognize her own genius.

The action is pretty relentless though, with few pauses to absorb the implications of that action. That would be my only problem with the book. That and how many deep breaths everyone took all the time. But it was surprising and highly individual. I know next to nothing about animation, but what Whitaker wrote rang true enough and I feel like she really knew the process of how to create movies on this scale. show less

This book:



I don't want to say too much, because I read some reviews going into this novel that mentioned the stroke and the Ted/Teddy debacle , which didn't ruin the book by any means, but dimmed just a little of its magic for me.

So I will just say this: Sharon Kisses is misfit from Kentucky, a scholarship art student at a prestigious university in upstate New York. When she meets Mel Vaught, another misfit from Kentucky, they quickly become best friends & collaborators. After this brief introduction, the story jumps forward ten years. Since graduating from college, Sharon & Mel have been scraping by, making animated films together. They have finally attained success, earning a prestigious arts grant, after making a full-length show more animation based Mel's dysfunctional childhood. The novel is told from the POV of Sharon, who never fit in with her family, and never feels like she is as talented as Mel. Sharon is the straight woman of the pair -- not that she is without her own demons & quirks -- while Mel loves the limelight. But when success and tragic events combine to spiral Mel out of control, it takes some major trauma and drama to save their friendship and partnership.

This is, as Karen claims, "a monster of a book."



In addition to an intimate look at the grueling world of animation and the intricacies of female friendship, it also features feminist and lesbian issues, dysfunctional families and childhoods, child pornography, various drug and health issues, and so much more. We travel with Sharon and Mel around NYC, to Florida & Kentucky, back to New York, and to California. It's such a giant novel and yet it feels completely intimate. You feel all of their highs and all of their lows. It will gut you and rip your heart out and you will love every moment of it.*

*No guarentees. I mean, you might totally hate it. But that will prove that you have no soul. Or that you just have different taste in books, which is pretty much the same thing. #kiddingnotkidding show less

The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker is the story of a friendship. Mel and Sharon meet in college, when they discover a shared love of animation and comics. While they are as different as two people can be, they also share traumatic and challenging childhoods that have marked them. After college they set up shop in Brooklyn, working long hours for little recognition until they make a film based on Mel's childhood in central Florida, which lands them publicity and a grant from a prestigious organization. The attention and financial freedom put stresses on their friendship that may prove fatal.

It's hard to believe that The Animators is Whitaker's first novel. Not only is the writing self-assured, but the pacing and emotional resonance are show more solid. Whitaker never takes the easy road, making every action taken by the characters completely understandable. Both Mel and Sharon have their own voices, and there's no reaction that isn't solidly part of who they are. There's also a deep and fascinating love of animation working through the novel. Mel and Sharon's love of their chosen career is a large part of the charm of this novel, which can been grim at times. Whitaker writes about uncomfortable situations with a light touch and a feel for the emotional heart of the matter. I'm already looking forward to her next novel. show less

I love novels about making art—not only the thought process but the physical act as well. Reading My Name is Asher Lev at age 12 flipped that switch for me, and I always really enjoy when a writer takes on what goes into the act of creation (reading about writers doesn't do the same thing for me... maybe because I identified as a visual artist early in life, long before I ever thought of myself as a writer?). I also, and I'm not proud of this, love novels about drugs—not the moral-arc, Behind the Music narratives of hitting bottom and then redemption, though it's OK if that happens. But those descriptions, when they ring true, of what it's like to step outside of yourself like that... I think I'm like the happily-partnered person show more who still likes to read the occasional steamy romance: it's entertaining to read travel reports from a road I didn't end up taking.

Which is all a roundabout way of saying that I liked this very much. Good solid writing, some really inspired dialogue, and an interesting arc to the story. I may not be a professional artist or a dedicated stoner, but I really lit up at the exploration of what it means when a woman puts her work first, how that reverberates through her life and relationships. Whitaker did a bang-up job on the friendship between the two women as well. I'm not sure I bought the family dynamics all the time but hey, not my family so who am I to say? All in all, this was a lot of fun. show less