" If Barbara Ucko s excellent dry wit

could be bottled and sold, irony would

not be in such lamentably short sup-

ply in the pages of American fiction.

Faster than a switchblade and just as

sharp, she s a natural comic talent."

--Washington Post Book World

"As a first-rate comic writer and docu-

mentarian of our parlous times and

changing customs, Ucko is an adorn-

ment to the literary scene. "

--Chicago Sun-Times

With her first novel, Family Trap-

pings, critics acclaimed Barbara Ucko

as America s new comic voice. In

Scarlett Greene, her position is firmly

established. Scarlett s story begins in

Georgia, where, as an overweight,

overworked teenager, she s been gulled

into taking care of her hypochondriac

mother and her disheveled, fumbling

father. Escape comes in the form of pre-

med courses at theUniversity of Wis- consin, where, in a less-than-perfect

blossoming into womanhood, Scarlett

grows up, thins out, and learns about

life. Her journey is told with Ucko s

unique sense of the absurd, her perfect

pitch for dialogue, and a vast, comic

vision of human relationships.