The New Yorker Book of Literary Cartoons

Almost anyone familiar with publishing will enjoy this book. It may be a little too painful if you are still a midlist author.

I purchased this book for my favorite english professor in college and took a glance in it myself and fell in love with it! You do not have to be a professor to get this--the humor is for all!

No matter how jaded, how cynical, how hard-boiled you may think yourself to be, at least one of these cartoons from the archives of The New Yorker will make you smile! Mr. Bob Mankoff, cartoon editor of The New Yorker since 1997, has put together a classic assortment of 104 drawings from the archives. "The New Yorker Book of Literary Cartoons" captures the cachet of the City, while poking fun at writers, editors, publishers, booksellers, and, most of all, at books, and those who read them. From the bookstore browsing Bibliophile Bikers Club to Mme Sartre's empty mailbox ("Sacré bleu! Again with the nothingness, and on my birthday yet!") to the hilarious note magnetized on "James Joyce's Refrigerator," one will find sterling examples of the wonderful satirical wit which has graced the pages of this magazine for 75 years. Buy this book for yourself! (Highly recommended for writer's block.) Better yet, buy this book for your editor or for your bookworm friends!

This group of 104 cartoons features works by Charles Barsotti, Roz Chast, J.B. Handelsman, Ed Koren, Victoria Roberts, and Jack Ziegler. The cartoons capture the wittiest New Yorker views, and leave you with a wry taste in your mouth. Selected by Bob Mankoff (cartoon editor of The New Yorker since 1997), this collection is one of the best that has been produced recently from the past offerings of that venerable publication. If you like authors, books, and reading, you'll love this book! I graded down the book because of the inexplicable lack of an introduction. What better subject for one than literary cartoons? The books in the series which featured such introductions are clearly more interesting than the ones that don't.It was hard for me to pick a few cartoons to feature for you. I was tempted to include all but a few. Author humor(1) Man leaving home wearing suit and carrying a brief case: 'Wait a minute. Where am I going? I'm a writer.'(2) James Joyce's refrigerator to-do list: 'Forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.'(3) Raven says to Poe: 'Nevermore. And you can quote me.'Publisher humor(1) Editor to Dickens: 'I wish you would make up your mind, Mr. Dickens. Was it the best of times or the worst of times? It could scarecely have been both.'(2) 'It doesn't work as a novel. But we're willing to publish it as a desk calendar.'(3) 'Chicken Vindaloo for the Hindu Soul is but the tip of the iceberg in our initial strategy of global expansion.'Book Seller Humor(1) 'Let me get you another copy. Someone left a slice of salami in this one.'(2) Book shelves organized by length of attention span.(3) Book shelves organized by size of author advance.Reader humor(1) 'I do want to solve all my problems, but I'll wait till it comes out in soft cover.'(2) 'Lately, I've been reading Jane Austen -- just to clear my palate.'(3) Fan to author: 'I really enjoyed your hype.'Media humor(1) Talk show host holding enormous tome, addressing author: 'If you were to boil your book down to a few words, what would be its message?'(2) 'Oprah is definite, Barnes and Noble is giving you front windows and Norman Mailer has agreed to a feud.'The others are just as good or better. These are just samples to whet your appetite.After you have read, chuckled, and enjoyed these wonderful cartoons, consider why we find these cartoons to be funny. Is it because books have become a commodity, rather than works of important ideas and art? Is that really so funny? What should we do about that? If you find these questions provocative, read The Business of Books.