Pictures provide plenty of laughs
The world of books is rich with subjects for humor: self-published novels, meet-the-author events, self-help books, memoirs, book clubs.
Thirty-three of the best cartoonists have their way with these and other literary-related topics in the new “The Ultimate Cartoon Book of Book Cartoons,” edited by author, illustrator, cartoonist and frequent New Yorker contributor Bob Eckstein. Many of the book’s cartoons previously appeared in The New Yorker while others are published for the first time.
Sam Gross, former cartoon editor for National Lampoon, draws a cat scratching (destroying) the arms of an upholstered chair while its owner comments: “We believe that in a former life she was an editor.”
Longtime New Yorker cartoonist Mick Stevens presents a naked Adam and Eve reclining in the garden while Adam murmurs, “I can’t help thinking there’s a book in this.”
Kim Warp, another New Yorker contributor, places Mark Twain with his mother on her porch as she asks, “Are you still writing your little stories?”
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Book lovers and those who subscribe to The New Yorker for its cartoons will chuckle at the 133 entries in this slim but potent collection of black-and-white cartoons.
In his introduction, Eckstein writes that the book was inspired by his 2016 book “Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores,” a compilation of anecdotes and paintings about independent bookstores.
“Bookstores,” he writes, “are the cultural hubs of our Main Streets, and not enough can be said for what they do for our communities, our youth, our writers and our growth … What better love letter to them — and to all book lovers — than a collection of book cartoons that would make them laugh and show them how much they are appreciated?”
In addition to the aforementioned categories of humor, a good number of the cartoons poke fun at beach books, chick lit, best-sellers and poetry.
Robert Leighton, who, in addition to being a cartoonist, creates puzzles and co-authored “The New Yorker Book of Cartoon Puzzles and Games,” draws one robed monk talking to another slaving away with pen and ink on manuscript. “Bad news,” says the first monk. “Looks like we’ve got a bestseller on our hands.”
And Eckstein, who has created seven of the cartoons in this collection, draws a detailed hell that looks like the nine circles of Dante’s inferno. In the foreground is the sign: “Poetry Reading Nightly.”
So, if you feel like taking a break from the book you’re currently reading, pick up this volume and partake in a time-honored tradition — looking at the pictures.
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“The Ultimate Cartoon Book of Book Cartoons” (Princeton Architectural, 144 pages, $19.95) edited by Bob Eckstein
