The Rejection Collection: Cartoons You Never Saw, and Never Will See, in The New Yorker [Hardcover]

Matthew Diffee (Editor), Robert Mankoff (Foreword)

Book Description

Release date: October 3, 2006

Each week about fifty New Yorker cartoonists submit ten ideas, yielding five hundred cartoons for no more than twenty spots in the magazine. Arguably the most brilliant single-panel-gag cartoonists in the world create a bunch of cartoons every week that never see the light of day.

These rejects were piling up in the dusty corners of studios all over the country. Sam Gross, who has been contributing since 1962, has more than 12,000 rejected cartoons. (Seriously. He's been numbering every single cartoon he's ever submitted to The New Yorker since the very beginning.) Enter editor Matthew Diffee. He tapped his fellow cartoonists, asking them to rescue these hilarious lost gems. From the artists' stacks of all-time favorite rejects, Diffee handpicked the standouts -- the cream of the crap -- and created The Rejection Collection, a place where good ideas go when they die. Too risqué, silly, or weird for The New Yorker, the cartoons in this book offer something no other collection has: They have never been seen in print until now.

With a foreword by New Yorker cartoon editor Robert Mankoff that explains the sound judgment, respectability, and scruples not found anywhere in these pages, and handwritten questionnaires that introduce the quirky character of each artist, The Rejection Collection will appeal to fans of The New Yorker...and to anyone with a slightly sick sense of humor.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The submissions were not set aside because they were not funny but (for the most part) because they were too funny.

--New York Times

About the Author

Matthew Diffee has been contributing cartoons to The New Yorker since 1999. He was recently singled out by the New York Times as one of the more prolific of the new generation of cartoonists. To date, he has had more than a hundred cartoons published in the magazine. Originally from Texas, Diffee now lives in New York City. This is his first book.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books; First Edition edition (October 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416933395
• ISBN-13: 978-1416933397
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 0.8 x 10.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #349,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 93 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "The cream of the crap." October 31, 2006

By E. Bukowsky HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

"The Rejection Collection," edited by Matthew Diffee, consists of cartoons that were "too risque, silly, or weird" to be accepted by the New Yorker magazine. Diffee asked thirty of his friends and colleagues, all of whom have had their work published in the New Yorker, to sift through their rejects and submit their favorites. From these, Diffee picked HIS favorites, which he dubs "the cream of the crap."

Diffee inserts photographs of the artists as well as quirky questionnaires that allow the cartoonists to express their feelings about such topics as their childhoods, what makes them laugh, and how they handle rejection. Unsurprisingly, their answers tend to be offbeat, humorous, and filled with doodles. The cartoons themselves have to be seen to be believed. They are scatological, profane, sadistic, stupid, clever, politically incorrect, and often hilarious. It's fair game to satirize crooked politicians, cosmetic surgery, and idiotic voice mail messages, but how can anyone make fun of adultery, chemotherapy, transsexuals, child abuse, alcoholism, and suicide? Aren't these subjects off limits? It turns out that in some cartoonists' slightly warped minds, no subject must be avoided in the name of political correctness and good taste.

One of the book's strengths is the insight that it offers into the creative process. Some of the artists believe that the writing and the ideas are more important than the drawings--no ideas, no cartoons. However, in the best cartoons, the writing and drawing are so well integrated that neither element dominates. These cartoons work so well that the reader finds himself laughing out loud (and feeling guilty afterwards).

If you have a friend who is a bit wacky, irreverent, and not easily offended, this collection would make a good gift. I wouldn't give it to Mom, Dad, your rabbi, or your priest, however. In these pages are naked guys and ladies, references to bodily functions, and content that can euphemistically be described as inappropriate for people with delicate sensibilities. Although some of the cartoons simply fall flat, the best of the bunch effectively satirize modern society, the human condition, and the madness that surrounds us every day.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious! December 22, 2006

By Phelps Gates VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

These cartoons are much funnier than the ones which actually appear in the New Yorker. I usually laugh out loud two or three times per issue, but almost every cartoon in this book was a winner! Most of these cartoons were rejected not because of poor quality, but because they're in, ahem, questionable taste. The little questionnaires (full of sly wit) which each cartoonist answers were annoying at first, but ended up being one of my favorite parts of the book (partly because they stopped me from barreling through the cartoons and getting overloaded). A perfect gift for somebody who isn't easily offended!

43 of 50 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The good with the bad November 26, 2006

By D. Low

Format:Hardcover

The cartoons in this book are mostly great, and I am very glad that Matthew Diffee decided to collect them between two covers for our benefit. However, what definitely weighs the book down are the interruptive cartoonist questionnaires which, although funny at times, reek of self-importance. As someone who takes great interest in cartoons and cartoonists, reading through the cartoonists' witticisms feels unnecessary even to me. One purchases a book of cartoons to see the cartoons, and the long Q&A sections that pepper the book simply destroy any sort of flow that it may have had. In general, cartoons which are funny individually become much funnier when looked at cumulatively (an idea that Stephen King hinted at in his introduction to one of the Far Side treasuries). Unfortunately, this book never allows itself to establish a one-after-another, hit-you-until-you're-down rhythm, and it suffers for it.

My advice to Mr. Diffee is to attempt to publish a second volume, 3rd, and 4th, etc., but without the cumbersome stoppages every three pages. There are clearly enough wonderful rejected cartoons out there to merit these volumes, and continuing to publish them is a fantastic idea, but the cartoonists' egos should be left at the door. Being a cartoonist is about showing off your work, not yourself.

If, however, somebody decided to compile biographical pieces on and photographs of New Yorker cartoonists, and not market the book as a book of cartoons, the questionnaires used in this tome would be highly appropriate and informative in that type of setting. Maybe that's another idea. But the two shouldn't be combined, because the reader is left wanting either way, not getting enough cartoons or biographical stuff.