Defining New Yorker Humor

This book offers a wealth of information on the first five years of the New Yorker and charts its influence on both American culture and the magazine industry. While it has its share of funny stories and great cartoons, the book casts considerable doubt on the enduring image of the early New Yorker as the haphazard product of madcap editors and loony writers. Professor Lee shows how Harold Ross's savvy "tinkering" made the magazine appealing to the particular audience he was aiming for, an audience wealthy and sophisticated enough--or aspiring to be wealthy and sophisticated enough-to draw the upscale advertising he did indeed attract. Basing her history on the contents of complete issues of the magazine rather than merely on the writing of its most famous authors, she addresses the interplay of stories, reviews, essays, pictures, and advertising over time. Her meticulous research is conveyed in a clear and engaging style that recreates for the reader some of the experience an early subscriber might have enjoyed in reading the New Yorker.