The New Yorker Book of New York Cartoons

Rating:
Summary: Great cartoonists on THE great city
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Traffic, Crowding, Danger, Oddities and Borough Humor!
Review: 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 of windows of people just like them in another office building. One comments, "Poor things!"

Drenched people are trying to hail a cab in the rain. A cab passes with a lighted sign atop that says "Fat Chance."

A man comes out of the subway exit holding a strap in the air.

A couple is standing atop a skyscraper under construction on a steel beam. One says to the man on the adjacent beam, "We'll take it."

Two scruffy types are walking in the Village. One says to the other, "It seems like only yesterday we were kids coming down to look at the characters."

Two men are in a cell and one comments to the other, "You won't believe how much I was paying for an apartment this size in New York."

A man stands on a subway platform at 14th Street, waiting for a train. The announcement says, "Uptown local now arriving, featuring early work by Tico '88, Baco-Loco, and Zazaoo 101."

A man says to another man in front of him on the sidewalk, "Could you walk a little faster, buddy? This is New York."

A man is throwing food all over a fine restaurant. The Maitre d' says, "We can only hope he's not the Times' new food man."

At the TKTS book, the clerk notes, "NTHNG FR 'LS MSRBLS' OR 'PHNTM.' HOW BT 'A CHRS LN?'

In another classic, subway cars open up like sardine cans.

On another sidewalk, a mob of people are confronted with a line of buses that say "Wrong Bus."

A squeegee guy cleans off a television screen as the apartment occupant complains, "Just a d_____d minute."

A couple are potting up a plant and studying a book while standing on a high balcony overlooking the City. The woman reads, "Enrich the soil with humus, which can be obtained from any nearby bog . . .?

At a restaurant, the Maitre d' politely asks, "Mets or Yankees."

Outside of New York, there's road sign that says "Welcome to New York" with a smaller sign below: "(Just Kidding)".

A man gets into a taxi and says, "LaGuardia, and hurry--I've got a flight in six hours."

This book would make a wonderful gift for anyone who loves New York!