The New Yorker Book of Political Cartoons

The New Yorker Book of Cartoons

by Robert Mankoff (Editor)

A sophisicated smirk riot filled with jabs at the overly serious world of politics.

Genres: Humor, Politics, Comics, Nonfiction, Anthologies

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Robert Mankoff is an American cartoonist, editor, and author. He was the cartoon editor for The New Yorker for nearly twenty years. Before he succeeded Lee Lorenz as cartoon editor at The New Yorker, Mankoff was a New Yorker cartoonist for twenty years.

Reviews

[Matthew]

It feels like cheating to count this towards my yearly book goal but I read it genuinely hoping for some good, smart humor. I vaguely remember taking a class in college on political art, and enjoying the curriculum at the time.

I personally didn't find these cartoons very funny. A handful were dated (the book is 15 years old at this point) but generally the book is not as dated as you might expect.

I would only really recommend this book to someone who is already familiar with, and enjoys, The New Yorker political cartoons. On the plus side, the introduction by Christopher Buckley was fun.

[Bill Sleeman]

Laugh out loud funny! A 'freebie' from a Little Library in my area, I found the images and commentary wonderful. Some other reviewers have noted that the cartoons in this collection seem too dated but I think some of these same writers may be confusing editorial cartoons which are 'of the moment' and cartoons about politics, which these gems from the New Yorker are. Certainly some are dated (a joke built around the Macarena (very '90s)) but some others such as a confused candidate delivering a white-collar speech to the blue collar crowd still ring true and relevant.

The introduction by Christopher Buckley is a hilarious plus to this wonderful and brief collection.

I cannot believe someone was getting rid of this!

[Sam]

As the intro declares these cartoonists are " the true gnostics of American Politics, keepers and tellers of its deepest truths."
An insight into French Tendencies: Think Left; Live Right
""Aw, come on, guys! We've marketed worse candidates!"
"All right, I lied to you. All governments lie!"
"Til go out on a limb and say time will tell."
And today in Washington a top Administration apologist issued an
apology while denying that there was anything to apologize for."

[Scott]

Coming out in 2000 and edited by Robert Mankoff which always gives me confidence, he always seems to make for a good collection. And he did this time out too. At 110 pages this one is a bit longer than most in this series, it also has the longest introduction, by Christopher Buckley, of any of these that I’ve seen yet and I think by now I’ve seen most of them. As far as that goes, most in the series didn’t have any introduction at all.

[Lorraine]

From the New Yorker (published in 2000...some things never change) is a selection of some of their very funny political cartoons. An absolutely fun book filled with good humor.
Happy Reading...and laughter 😂

[Pratiksha]

A testament to the enduring bluff that masquerades as electoral politics in Murica.

[Rich Farrell]

Like the edition about money, some are mildly amusing but few are anything more than that. It’s worth a 10 minute read.

[Geof]

So inoffensive and apolitical as to be boring.

[Madhavi]

I am a big fan of catoons and specially political cartoons & cartoonist. I try to catch the cartoons drawn by the cartoonists all over the world. The New Yorker Book of Poltical cartoons has tried to compile all the political cartoons published in the New Yorker.
The cartoons are awesome. But I take away another start because I feel some of the cartoons require its context to be mentioned. And a cartoon drawn with a context in mind can be understood by the people belonging to the country the cartoonist belongs. A lot of the cartoons in the book have presidential elections as
its context. And there a few cartoons that are targeted at a specific event in the presidential elections. So if you are not aware the event you cannot appreciate the cartoon fully.

But All in all an awesome book. A must read!

[Glen Gersmehl]

one of dozens of books of cartoons from the New Yorker, among today's best humor venues . . . the world is too weird to not laugh more, right?

[Nate]

Most cartoons were funny but forgettable. Particularly funny are the older ones that apply to the current senatorial and presidential elections.

[Nandakishore Mridula]

Mildly humorous cartoons. One should be knowledgeable on American politics to properly appreciate.