The New Yorker Book of New York Cartoons

This is another in a series of anthologies whose contents share a common subject. In this instance, the five boroughs that comprise a culture that is generally associated with Manhattan. When making the selections, editor Robert Mankoff probably faced the same daunting challenge he has when selecting for each issue what are referred to at the magazine as "drawings": Which among those available? Also, at least for me, there is a challenge when composing a review such as this because no description of the illustrations can do full justice to their art nor can citing captions do full justice to their appropriateness to the illustrations that accompany them. Moreover, 33 of the illustrations in this volume have no captions because they do not require one. What to share in a review? Here's one man's opinion that none of the other volumes in this series is more entertaining than this one in terms of wit and insight. Moreover, the 52 artists offer a variety of perspectives on a subject that people are less familiar with than they are, say, with baseball, business, cats, dogs, money, or restaurants. Of course, all of these subjects offer excellent material for cartoons about New York and the attitudes of residents toward them are often unique to that urban culture. For example, in one of Lee Lorenz' cartoons, a dog that may be a beagle is standing on his hind legs, with one upper paw grasping a mail receptacle, smoking a cigarette. The caption is provided by his owner nearby, a normal looking, well-dressed woman chatting with another woman: "I used to think it was cruel to keep a dog in the city, but Homer's made a remarkable adjustment." In response to this drawing and its caption, many people elsewhere in the United States probably share the opinion that George Booth indicates in the caption for one of his two contributions: "My mother always says that. `You have to be a little bit crazy to live in New York.' Mother is a littler crazy, but she doesn't live in New York. She lives in Nishnabotna, Missouri." Having spent a great deal of time in the New York City area and especially in Manhattan, I would not be surprised to see a dog smoking a cigarette...or stone lion cubs beneath one of the stone lions in front of what looks like the New York Public Library on 42th and Fifth, as George Price presents them without a caption because, yes, none is needed. With regard to cartoons such as these and most others that appear in the magazine, those who see them either "get it" or they don't. I can almost hear Harold Ross, founding editor of the New Yorker, exclaiming "Of course they don't get it, goddamnit, they're not from here!" I suspect he's right but how would I know? I'm from Chicago.

I'm not sure why this book took so long to happen. What could be more natural and inevitable than The New Yorker's cartoonists on New York. The cartoons are from a wide range of time (eight decades) and some cartoonist are famous, others less so. Whichever, they are first rate. I love New York and I love this book.

The only thing that is surprising about The New Yorker Book of New York Cartoons is that it took so long for the book to come out. Whether you live on the East Side, the West Side, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, or Staten Island . . . or just visit New York City, this book will tickle your funny bone . . . and give you a laugh the next time you struggle with the city that never sleeps.Only The New Yorker could capture the ultimate frustrations and irony of life in the Big Apple. The only weakness in the book is that it lacks a foreword. Surely the Mayor or the even more famous former Mayor would have been willing to do the honors. Or why not turn to Trump?Have you ever been crowed or waited in New York, feared for crime, observed weirdoes, appreciated tiny bits of nature, or yearned for open spaces? Then, this is the book for you!Here are a few of my favorites:A couple approaches a police officer in front of a store holding a brochure: "Pardon me, Officer. Could you direct us to the New York that's illustrated in this brochure?"A couple is enjoying a picnic in the country. "It's so lovely out here you wonder why they have it so far from the city."Two virtually identical suited men who look very plain with the label: "Wall St. Glitterati".A mass of people come off an overcrowded subway car. One person holds up a newspaper page and says, "Somebody did my crossword puzzle."Two cabbies in the rain speak to one another from their cars. One has an off duty sign in his window. "Actually, I'm not off duty. I'm just having fun."A tired looking man approaches a sign on the sidewalk in front of a desk with a security guard. The sign reads, "Entering the Upper East Side. Visitors Must Sign In."A newspaper kiosk sports this sign: "For rent. Newsstand or Studio Apartment."Two elderly women sit on a park bench. As a naked man is chased by a kangaroo, one woman says to the other, "I love this town."A man and woman are being held up at gunpoint. The man is handing over his watch. He turns to the women and says, "God. I feel like such a tourist."The famous Grant Wood couple from American Gothic is dressed in "I Love New York tee shirts" in another cartoon.People sitting on a tiny balcony in an apartment building surrounded by plants note, "You'd never know you were in New York, would you?"A couple is walking out of Lincoln Center and one person notes, "The music was so loud I couldn't hear myself talk."Two men look at other apartment builds from a small balcony, "We love this view. It helps to remind us that we're part of larger community." A woman is walking her dog and speaks with another woman. "I used to think it was cruel to keep a dog in the city, but Homer's made a remarkable adjustment." The dog is smoking a cigarette.An exhausted-looking couple is slumped in their recliners in an apartment. One notes to the other, "Nothing beats New York for sheer energy."Two men are sitting at desks in an office building. They look out at a wall