The Best of the Rejection Collection

The Best of the Rejection Collection: 293 Cartoons That Were Too Dumb, Too Dark, or Too Naughty for The New Yorker
edited by Matthew Diffee [741.5 Dif]

Depending on what your threshold of enjoying bawdy, knee-jerk, occasionally dumb humor is, you'll either love this volume or hate it. Personally, I've always enjoyed the off-center humor of the one-panel cartoons featured in The New Yorker magazine, and this collection of cast-offs that didn't make the cut for that publication was hilarious. Editor Diffee sent a set of standard profile questions to dozens of the artists whose work most frequently shows up in The New Yorker. He then published their responses, along with a selection of each artist's rejected cartoons. The responses to the profile questions, though invariably humorous, also got a bit tiresome and rather repetitive. However, the examples of rejected cartoons were terrific. Though the subtitle says "Too Dumb, Too Dark, or Too Naughty", I'd estimate fully 50% of the cartoons here were rejected for sexual content. But, if you like the dry, somewhat urbane, and chuckle-inducing style of humor that that magazines specializes in, you won't want to miss this collection! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official New Yorker cartoons web site ] | [ Slideshow of some of the rejected cartoons ] 

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