Customer Reviews

The New Yorker 75th Anniversary Cartoon Collection

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Since we already own several anthologies of New Yorker cartoons, and have always subscribed to the New Yorker I really didn't anticipate that I would find anything really "new" in this collection. I was, however, rather surprised when looking through the book after I gave it to my son as a hanukah gift at the selection of cartoons. Mankoff has come up with a timeless collection--one that shows us that real humor crosses over decades and generations. How he managed to choose these cartoons, I do not know, but I imagine he had to go through thousands and thousands of cartoons, and make thousands of decisions that no cartoonist or cartoon lover would want to have to make. The newer cartoons (those by Roz Chast and her contemporaries) are destined to be classics. I am so glad that we bought it.

I was introduced to the recent books of New Yorker cartoons by The New Yorker Book of Money Cartoons, which I liked. Imagine my excitement when I saw this massive volume of 707 cartoons by Peter Arno, Charles Addams, Roz Chast, Mary Petty, William Steig, Jack Zeigler and others.

When I opened the book, I was in for another surprise. The book didn't live up to its potential, which is why I graded it down one star.

First, the introduction was a weak stab at humor that didn't work for me about encouraging the reader to skip the introduction and go to the cartoons. I did learn from the introduction that Bob Mankoff, the cartoon editor of The New Yorker, chose these cartoons after reviewing 60,000 cartoons and consulting with the cartoonists, editors of The New Yorker, and readers of the magazine. That research provided the opportunity to insert some of the comments that were made either into the introduction or onto the pages with the cartoons. Neither was done. You can safely skip the introduction, and you will like the book better.

Second, the material could have used some organization. The time periods, subjects, and styles seemed haphazard to me in their order. That robbed the material of some of its strength. The layouts were of 1 to 3 cartoons per page in random fashion. It has a feeling like a scrapbook would.

On the other hand, you'll never find all of these cartoons any place else. Here are a few of my many favorites:

Man in pajamas in a hotel room: "Front desk? There are no little candies on my pillow."

Pilgrim speaking to a Native American: "We're here to escape religious persecution. What are you here for?"

One couple in a living room to another couple: "The work being done on your marriage -- are you having it done, or are you doing it yourselves?

Couple looking at a sunset: "Too much purple."

"Now, if you'll just sign right here . . . you'll be making the biggest mistake of your life!"

The book repeats many of the best cartoons from the various subject series (money, business, lawyers, and doctors) that are separately published by The New Yorker.

The book would make a good gift except that the reproduction of the cartoons is not as sharp as it should be. It seems to have been caused by the digitalization process. Perhaps that's another cartoon for us: "Technology is always a source of progress."

The real strength of the cartoons is to remind us about our stalled thinking: Wanting the world to conform to our ideas about it, rather than perceiving reality and the other person's point of view. The captions take some line or concept that we all use at one time or another, and put them into an unfamiliar setting or turn them around a little. If you treat this as a potential source of self-improvement rather than humor, this will be a five-star book for you.

Sit down with someone you care about and discuss the lessons that you both draw from the humor. That will give you the added benefit of becoming closer, as well as wiser.

If the book doesn't make you laugh, think about why! Why is the humor stalled?

I just read this book cover to cover. I found it a vanity-piece for the editor and was disappointed by the selection and presentation of the cartoons.

The introduction is precious and information-free. On the preciousness, who expects or wants to read the cartoon editor's version of humorous writing? On the content, I wanted to know how the cartoons were chosen and how he chose to distribute them through the book. Also, some of the cartoons were smudgy and hard to read --- it would have been interesting for the intro to discuss the shape the various originals were in.

I was amazed to find that the editor included as many of his own cartoons in the anthology as he did of Charles Addams'. Even if he considers his own work at the level of Addams', it would be more graceful to leave the announcement of this fact to someone else. His parents, perhaps.

Finally, I would have really enjoyed seeing the cartoons grouped in some manner, by genre or by decade for example. Seeing either the evolution of topics or the universality of topics would have been interesting. I suspect that such a sorting would have made the past few years of New Yorker cartoons look topical and transient --- as I have found them in the magazine itself.

Finally -- one book with many all-time favorite New Yorker cartoons!! This book has cartoons from "way back when" until the current time. Cartoons are a fascinating way to look at the history of the world and this book has the best of the best!!

Considering how literate and erudite the New Yorker tends to view itself, it's surprising that a collection of cartoons supposedly representing 75 years of social change are presented so randomly and without temporal identification.

The purpose of most cartoons is to make contemporary social commentary in a humorous, visual format. The trouble is, when those cartoons are reproduced years (or decades) later, the cultural situations or mores they originally poked fun at can be meaningless to present-day readers.

Early suburban life, the Organization Man of the 50s and 60s, big business, womens lib, the Me Generation of the 80s, etc., were all fertile fields for cartoonists of the time, but topical humor isn't always timeless and needs to be placed in some perspective if it's to be understood years later.

Most astute readers of this book will be able to place the cartoons in general time periods from clues in the subject matter or the drawing style, but printing the original date of publication in the margins would have allowed this material to be appreciated as timely social commentary and not just a haphazard collection of stand-alone jokes.

My public library had a wondrous New Yorker cartoon collection in the 1980s. Each page was enjoyable, and there were gems throughout. Thanks to Mr. Mankoff's editorial decisions, my respect for the clever, observant, and hilarious world of New Yorker cartoons is gone. It was sad to trudge through this new collection and put it down after page 121. I only laughed 4 times, and didn't have the energy to process yet another wordy attempt at humor by Roz Chast.

I kept hoping for some sign of sharpness and talent to appear. The unchronological mish-mash of styles and topics was jarring, as the 1950s office/domestic arena of humor simply does not mesh with the 1970s and 1990s focus on puncturing pretension. The reader is forced to repeatedly cross the line between innocent nostalgia and excruciating staleness.

The book's extremely poor printing of Chas. Addams' work was puzzling. The tiresome, annoying, and intentionally unreadable introduction gave the answer; All the artwork was digitized in the hope of improving quality. The freshness and impact of hand-drawn lines and brushed tones is best translated through photographic line-art and halftone processes. Vitality is lost with present day digital techniques.

This rendition codifies 75 years of cartoon caricatures in the
New Yorker. The work is an important contribution to our
culture since it documents journalistic humor in a sequential
and interesting fashion. The research contained in this acquisition would take many years to accomplish except for the monumental work of the editorial staff which produced this 75th Anniversary Edition.

Classic cartoons are depicted; namely,

- Windshear
- Dealmobile
- Parallel Universe
- The End of Innocence
- Climbing Mt. Everest

There are over 69T cartoon entries- a list too exhaustive to
mention here. This volume would be a perfect gift for the
art/cultural enthusiast in your home. It is reasonably priced
and well written. The cartoons tell much about the historical
context surrounding the creation of each cartoon witicism.

The customer reviews on this book fairly well describe what you can expect from it.It is obvious that the type of humor presented here is very selective. I have never been much taken by the New Yorker Magazine;but I realize that it is highly regarded by many.I have always felt that the people who enjoy this magazine are those who live on the upper floors of expensive appartments in Manhatten.Their world is not one where they expose their thoughts or humor to others and they are certainly not mainstream or indicitave of the the broad spectrum of people in America.
However,to the people of this part of society,this book gives a very good insight into where their interests in humor lies.It's almost as if they have carved out this little world which insulates them from reality;and there's nothing wrong with this.The humor in this book has nothing personal about it and this seems to be the way they like it;totally sanitized.
This book is the editors selection of 700 cartoons from the archives of 60,000 and from a period of 75 years.
Its what's missing from the humorous side of life that this book leaves me cold.
There's nothing about anything military and the Wars,nothing about Politics and specific Politicians,nothing about the great Ethnic humor of America, nothing resembling Regional Humor,nothing from the Arts and Sciences,and many other areas of life. So,if your bent on on humor excludes all these things,I guess the humor of the New Yorker is for you.
As I read through this collection ,I was continually surprised and actually annoyed by the number of his own cartoons the Editor chose as the best.The other cartoonist that I found totally over represented was Chast,which I personally found pure drudgery and soon skipped over.
So ,some will like this collection of cartoons,but I suggest that if you are not one of those who are enthralled with the New Yorker,this book will leave you somewhat disappointed. Then again, New Yorker readers will probably like it. Anyway, that is how I feel,and so do the other reviewers.

While I would agree that The New Yorker cartoons in this book could have been better organized and that the introduction was inconsequential, there are many classic cartoons in this volume that are well worth the price of admission. In my collegiate youth, I lived for my weekly New Yorker, just to read the cartoons. I found many old friends in this book and was grateful to be reaquainted with them.

I have long enjoyed Bob Mankoff's taste in cartoons, and was excited to find he was the editor behind this book. Through The Cartoon Bank (and now The New Yorker magazine), he has done a great job bringing cartoons to the public, and this book serves as another excellent result of his efforts. For fans of The New Yorker's cartoons, this book is a must buy.