Ariella Papa Up & Out Review

Overall Rating

Up & Out
Ariella Papa
Red Dress, Dec 2003, $12.95, 320 pp.
ISBN: 0373250428

In New York City, "On the Verge" magazine names the cartoon Esme's Enlightenments a family icon. Not long afterward, the Family Channel orders cartoonist Rebecca Cole to develop a season's worth of Esme animation. Rebecca gives up much of her social life except her gourmand's delights to change from sixty second shorts to a feature length series for kids TV.

As her roommate leaves for Massachusetts, Indiana Mutual takes over the Family Channel. They decide to cut back on costs by letting excess folks go. Thus they fire Rebecca at the height of her success as they believe anyone can write and draw a child's cartoon. There also remains her ex boyfriend who serves an intermediate sexual purpose, but also that blocks her from seeking something more meaningful (then sex?).

UP & OUT is a fun character driven look at the single life of a yuppie artist as she struggles with the 4 Fs (female style) - fame, firing, food, and friends, not in any order. The story line is lighthearted yet insightful because Rebecca carries it off with wit and intelligence. The support cast enables the audience to understand what makes the heroine and tick as Ariella Papa seems ON THE VERGE of stardom.

Harriet Klausner