The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons (Hardcover)

~ (Author, Editor) "It's up to you now, Miller..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For many of us, our first memories of The New Yorker date back to childhood, when we would eagerly search through this otherwise impenetrable jungle of words to find the only thing that we could relate to--the cartoons. The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons is a collection of 110 of the best drawings, selected by New Yorkercartoon editor Robert Mankoff, that lampoon the world of business.

The cartoons date from 1938 to the present and include the work of The New Yorker's finest artists, including George Booth, Peter Arno, Roz Chast, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Leo Cullum, and William Hamilton. Whether they aim at the rise of women in business, our anxieties about the stock market, or the foibles of the corporate America, these cartoons seem always to hit the spot in subtle and disarmingly simple ways. This collection reminds us of just how uniquely funny the art of The New Yorker really is, and why the cartoons are the first and sometimes only things we read each week. As New Yorker editor David Remnick says in the introduction, "They are perhaps the most important thing The New Yorker publishes." --Harry C. Edwards

From Library Journal

This compilation of 110 classic cartoons on business and finance from The New Yorker spans 60 years. As David Remnick, the magazine's editor, explains, "The New Yorker cartoonists, each in his or her own way, have seized on the business world and found laughter in its codes, cliches, rivalries, desperations, vanities, anxieties, and power relations."
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Bloomberg Press; 1st edition (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576600564
• ISBN-13: 978-1576600566
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 8.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #606,972 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Lampoons of Stalled Thinking in Business!, July 9, 2000

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons (Paperback)

I first discovered The New Yorker when I was a teenager. When I saw how many people subscribed to the magazine, I started asking people why they did. Inevitably, the answer was, "For the cartoons." Since then, I have come to realize that The New Yorker is like the hall of fame for cartoonists.

I became interested in this book after reading the excellent The New Yorker Book of Money Cartoons. I like this one even better.

The introduction by David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, is worth of the price of the book alone. He describes a ritual whereby the cartoonists arrive to share their work, and how the editors all feel envious and intimidated by the cartoonists. The reasons for the envy? The editors know that the readers usually turn to the cartoons first, the cartoon humor is often more effortless than the essays and poetry in The New Yorker, and the cartoonists first realized that business was a great subject for the magazine.

The cartoons themselves were all selected by Robert Mankoff, cartoon editor of The New Yorker.

Perhaps business is inherently funnier than most other subjects, but these cartoons were unusually rewarding to review.

Here are some of my favorites:

"It's up to you now, Miller. The only thing that can save us is an accounting breakthrough."

"Pendleton, as of noon today your services will no longer be required. Meanwhile, keep up the good work."

There is a wordless cartoon of a natty older fellow in a suit sitting at the top of a tall step ladder looking glum. (I guess this is, it's lonely at the top.)

"No, thursday's out. How about never -- is never good for you?"

Four men are fishing in a stream, while one holds a cell phone and is speaking, "Fenwick, Benton & Perkins. How may I direct your call?"

Another wordless cartoon -- The Bill Gates Wealth Clock which provides up-to-the minute numbers on a billboard.

"Sir, the following paradigm shifts occurred while you were out."

"You drive yourself too hard. You really must learn to take time to stop and smell the profits."

One walrus says to the other eyeing a group of penguins, "Here come the suits."

As you can see the common thread is taking our fascination with getting what we want in business and poking some fun at it with an absurd situation.

This book would make a great gift for anyone who is or has been in business, and certainly for any reader of The New Yorker!

Be sure to think about the cartoons and discuss them with others when they reveal some important examples of stalled thinking (like the one about downsizing) that need to be changed.

Keep your laughs up above your profits in the meantime!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Fun - Laugh Out Loud Funny, January 29, 2004

By	Susanna Hutcheson "Copywriting for the Discri... (Midwest U.S.A.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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It's hard to make me laugh at a joke or cartoon. But I love the sophisticated wit of The New Yorker and very much appreciate their cartoons. They give me a lift.

Before I start work on a project for a client, I like to open one of the New Yorker cartoon books to get myself in a good mood and set the stage. Other cartoons just don't do the job for me. They don't have the edge and basic feel of sharp truth to them.

This book is just fun and nice to have around when you want to laugh at yourself and your job and those people you run into every day of your working life.

It's very nicely presented and a great pleasure.

Susanna K. Hutcheson
Owner and Creative Director
Powerwriting.com LLC

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious! Wish it had more text as in "Management by Vice"!, November 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons (Paperback)

The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons is a marvelous compilation of classic business "cartoons" and sharp punch-lines that take a much needed cynical, yet comedic look inside the business world, which is, "...always one small step from bloody disdain...", as the New Yorker editor, Mr. David Remnick, states in his superbly written introduction. A very enjoyable book indeed!

Having said this, I must admit that as an avid reader, I wished for a "story" to lend more substance to the issues addressed by the "cartoons". In this respect, the recently published American satire, "Management by Vice" by C.B. Don is the book for lovers of both media. It artfully blends great "cartoon" illustrations (of the same calibre as in The New Yorker) with short, witty verses, all combined within hilarious, easy-to-read episodes that lampoon life in high-tech R&D. If you crave The New Yorker's apropos, biting humor, I think you'll love the wickedly satirical, "Management by Vice" as well!!