The New Yorker Book of Political Cartoons Buy Now

In his Introduction to this volume, Christopher Buckley quotes the Chicago Tribune's Jeff MacNelly's comment that many cartoonists "would be hired assassins if they couldn't draw." Pat Oliphant explains his objective as "stirring up the animals." Obviously, style and perspective vary significantly among the best of the political cartoonists. The same is true of the publications which feature their work. Back to Buckley: "The New Yorker cartoonists may too, deep down, be spitting mad, but they do a good job of transforming that specific anger and disappointment into exquisite generic commentary on the old human condition....If a newspaper editorial cartoon shouts its opinion at you over the scrambled eggs, The New Yorker cartoon hands you a Scotch and nudges you toward whatever truth it has in its sights."

Credit Robert Mankoff with selecting and editing the 110 presented in this volume. Unlike Thomas Nast's cartoons which attack William Marcy ("Boss") Tweed and his corrupt Tammany Hall organization, few of the 110 require an historical context to have meaning, much less impact. That is what Buckley has in mind when using the word "generic." I can think of only one or two which may eventually become "dated." Hence the relevance of Buckley's reference to "the old human condition."

The captions of the cartoons are so clever that it is easy (perhaps too easy) to underestimate the quality of their creators' draftsmanship. (In contrast, few of Oliphant's cartoons even have a caption.) Without being able to see many of the drawings, you already get the point. For example:

"In the midst of chaos, Larry is the clear voice of reason. Get him the hell out of here." (James Stevenson, page 1)

"People of North Dakota! Or possibly South Dakota!" (J.B. Handelsman, page 23)

"On the other hand, if we backpedal too much, we'll lose the hate vote." (Frank Modell, Page 36)

"Grayson is a liberal in social matters, a conservative in economic matters, and a homicidal psychopath in political matters." (James Stevenson, page 91)

"Great. You touched all the bases without getting bogged down in constitutionality." (Bernard Schoenbaum, page 96)

Perhaps only cartoons featured in The New Yorker could be praised by Buckley for "distilling" fury "into a tone of gentle wit and piquancy." Here are 110 of the best. By all means enjoy this book but take good care of it for those in future generations who also appreciate "exquisite generic commentary on the old human condition."

Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out Roger A. Fischer's Them Damned Pictures: Explorations in American Political Cartoon Art as well as Attack of the Political Cartoonists edited by J.P. Trostle, various collections of Pat Oliphant's work (e.g. Oliphant's Anthem and Oliphant's Presidents), and The Best Political Cartoons of the Year (2005 Edition) co-edited by Daryl Cagle and Brian Fairrington. Get more detail about The New Yorker Book of Political Cartoons.