Book Review: Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld

Revenge of the Librarians
by Tom Gauld (741.5 Gau)

For the past several years, I’ve been seeing the wry, comic art panels of artist Tom Gauld regularly showing up in my Facebook feed, shared by many of my friends…especially those with a love of literary humor. Gauld’s comic strips (frequently seen on the online features of The Guardian) feature simple, uncomplicated art, with “characters” that are often little more than stylized stick figures. His works always appear as variations on the traditional “comic strip” format — long horizontal boxes that can sometimes be just a single box, but can also be subdivided into the traditional 3 or 4 boxes that are reminiscent of newspaper comic strips, but he also frequently uses the space to create a multitude of tiny art boxes.

 

Gauld’s humor is dry, wry, slightly sarcastic, and pokes fun at tropes and established traditions. This particular book collects dozens of his strips that all share a thematic connection — books, reading, libraries, writers, publishing and more along these lines. I absolutely adored this entire collection, and will be looking to purchase a copy for my own personal library. If you, too, appreciate the ability to have fun with literary traditions, you’ll appreciate this collection as well.

 

( official Tom Gauld web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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Book Review: The Cryptid Club by Sarah Andersen

The Cryptid Club
by Sarah Andersen (741.5 And)

Cryptid (definition): an animal (such as Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster) that has been claimed to exist but never proven to exist.

 

Web cartoonist Sarah Anderson (Sarah’s Scribbles, and Fangs) launched a new four-panel web comic The Cryptid Club on Webtoon in September 2021. This little hardback book compiles all of the cartoons from the run of that web comic from the beginning through May 2022. The strip features a rotating/recurring cast of characters, from Bigfoot (Sam) and Nessie to a chupacabra, ghosts, a Kraken, aliens, the Fresno Nightcrawlers, Cthulhu, Mothman, The Flatwoods Monster, the Slender Man, a Jackalope, a Siren and a Sirenhead, and a Sleep Paralysis Demon. But, though many of those might be considered “monsters” in modern pop culture mythology, in this strip, they’re all just “normal” people trying to live “normal” lives.

 

The strip is a cute little “slice of life” from the world of these slightly creepy creatures, and Andersen does an absolutely marvelous job of capturing a mix of both the mundane and the macabre. I felt little hints of Charles Addams classic “The Addams Family” comics in these pages. I’ll have to admit, I occasionally find some of Andersen’s extremely simplistic art a bit off-putting, but in this collection, she’s at her best.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the other cartoon compilations by Sarah Andersen, I particularly recommend Fangs, or The World of Charles Addams by Charles Addams, containing many of the cartoons that inspired various iterations of The Addams Family.)

 

( official Cryptid Club web site ) | ( official Sarah Andersen web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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Book Review: A Wealth of Pigeons by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss

A Wealth of Pigeons

by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss (741.5 Bli)

 

In his introduction, stand-up comedian, artist and musician Steve Martin describes the origins of this collaboration — despite his success in so many creative fields, Martin had never attempted to express his humor through printed comics. As his mental notebook of possible comic strip ideas continued to grow, he asked colleagues to connect him with an artist who might be willing to collaborate — enter Harry Bliss, acclaimed New Yorker single-panel cartoonist.

 

The two creative types “clicked” and began working together to create this collection, with the idiosyncratic title A Wealth of Pigeons. Sometimes, Martin would create an intriguing and thought-provoking one-line caption, and Bliss would create art to match. Sometimes, Bliss would have a quirky piece of art but no caption to attach, and Martin would respond. And sometimes, they just spit-balled together.

 

The result is an incredibly wry, quirky, and very humorous collection.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten: The Tweets of Steve Martin by Steve Martin or any of the various New Yorker Cartoons collections by a variety of artists.]

[ publisher’s official A Wealth of Pigeons web page ] | [ official Steve Martin web site ] | [ official Harry Bliss web site ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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Book Review: Strange Planet and Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle

Strange Planet and Stranger Planet
by Nathan W. Pyle (741.5 Pyl)

These two volumes are small hardback collections of the comic strips that appeared in Pyle’s web comic “Strange Planet”. comics — usually four-panel strips — look at life from a typical “fish out of water” perspective. The central characters are simplistically-drawn “aliens” — long stretchy bodies, rounded oblong heads, and huge eyes. But the main alien family is just a typical suburban family dealing with typical suburban issues. The main difference is that the aliens don’t have traditional terminology for the everyday things WE take for granted, and the terms they end up using are often very utilitarian, in a “Captain Obvious” sort of way. One alien finds a cat that is happily purring and can only describe it as “This being is vibrating”. The straightforward, seemingly unemotional humor this juxtaposition of terminology creates can lead to lots of silly observations on life.

 

The art is intentionally very basic, and yet Pyle manages to convey a great deal with a limited number of details. For instance, the otherwise expressionless faces take on a totally different dimension when an alien squints his eyes to convey an unexpected emotion. But it is mainly through dialog that the humor comes through.

 

At its heart, this is a humor strip — and both volumes ARE very funny, in a wry, tongue-in-cheek fashion.

[If you like these two volumes, you’ll probably want to search for Pyle’s strip online — you can follow him directly on his website, and via various social media platforms.]

[ official Strange Planet/Nathan W. Pyle web site ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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DVD Review: The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Their Friends - The Complete Series

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Their Friends – The Complete Series
(DVD j Adventures)

I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed “The Bullwinkle Show” (packaged here as The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Their Friends) as a kid growing up in the mid-1960s. The series actually premiered in November 1959, and continued for five long seasons and a total of 163 episodes, then continued in re-runs. The central figures were Rocky the Flying Squirrel (voiced by June Foray), and Bullwinkle J. Moose, a dimwitted, curious and lovable figure voiced by Bill Scott, who both lived in Frostbite Falls, MN. They constantly got into wild and improbable adventures, told in a serialized format, which often put them in opposition to foreign spies Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale, and their boss Fearless Leader of Pottsylvania.

Interspersed between Rocky and Bullwinkle’s wild and crazy adventures were other ongoing characters and their stories. These included: the adventures of intrepid Canadian Mountie Dudley Do-Right, constantly rescuing his would be love, Nell Fenwick, from the clutches of Snidely Whiplash (a loving parody of old silent movie melodramas — in fact, then used only a single piano as their musical accompaniment; Aesop & Son; Fractured Fairy Tales – featuring absurdly comical takes on traditional fairy tale stories; and Peabody’s Improbable History — featuring the genius dog Mr. Peabody and the boy he has adopted, Sherman, and their adventures in Mr. Peabody’s “Wayback Machine” (time travel machine) as they revisited various events throughout history.

All these series features wry, satirical humor, outrageous puns, over-the-top action sequences and healthy doses of cornball silliness. But in the midst of the tongue-in-cheek humor, the writers managed to slip in quite a bit of actual educational content for the “kiddies” who’d be watching. Some of the content holds up well today, over 50 years after they originally aired, but some are painfully dated. Fortunately, cornball humor usually stands the test of time. The Bullwinkle stories would always end with actor William (Cannon, Jake and the Fat Man) Conrad’s voice-over narrator giving hints and possible titles for the next installment — and frequently engaging in verbal sparring with Rocky and Bullwinkle — the series regularly “broke the fourth wall”, with characters acknowledging the viewers and talking directly to us. There were occasional appearances by Bullwinkle in a short feature called “Mr. Know-It-All”, in which the unflappable moose claimed to be an expert on a variety of topics — with hilarious results.

This massive DVD collection includes several special features, including an interview with Rocky’s voice, June Foray, some classic TV commercials, a highlight on Bullwinkle’s songs, examples of some early Bullwinkle puppet introductions to the cartoons, and more. This series has been adapted into live-action feature films twice (Boris & Natasha — 1992 — in which Rocky & Bullwinkle do not appear, and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle — a 2000 mix of live-action and computer animation); Dudley Do-Right was adapted into a single 1999 live-action film (which flopped); and Mr. Peabody and Sherman became a successful animated full-length film in 2014. None of those hold a candle to the originals — even though the originals had substandard animation, the writing and voice work was top notch.

Highly recommended.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try to track down the original animated Underdog series, from the same approximate time period.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ Wikipedia page for the original Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Their Friends television series ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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Review: The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection (in five volumes) [on DVD]

The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection (in five volumes) 

[DVD j Pink] 

The animated character The Pink Panther has a long and unusual history. Director Blake Edwards originally commissioned the creation of the graphic character for his 1963 live-action film, The Pink Panther, which introduced actor Peter Sellers as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau. In the first film in the series, Clouseau is on the trail of jewel thief The Phantom, who is out to steal the legendary Pink Panther diamond. Edwards liked the concept art that DePatie-Freleng Entertainment came up with so much, he asked them to created animated credits for the film, featuring the slinky pink feline. The Pink Panther credits were so popular (a large part of the success of the first film is attributed to people loving those credits), that the Panther character graces almost all subsequent Pink Panther movies, and was spun off into a series of 124 short films, 10 TV shows and 4 TV specials.

The 124 short theatrical films have been packaged and released in five single-disc DVD sets (the libraries own the first four of these). Each volume contains between 20 and 25 of the 6-minute theatrical cartoons, plus special features. Some of the special features include voice-over commentary tracks by animators, writers, and film-historians. Some are mini-documentaries on the history of the making of the early versions of the theatrical cartoons. I particularly enjoyed “Behind the Feline: The Cartoon Phenomenon” (featuring interviews with producer David DePatie and filmmaker Blake Edwards) on Set 3. If you grew up watching the Pink Panther, either as animated shorts attached to feature films, or in his various TV-show versions, this will be a fun trip down memory lane to sample these DVDs. If you’re only vaguely familiar with the character of The Pink Panther, then these are essential viewing — enjoy experiencing animated cartoons set to a jazzy soundtrack, and featuring absolutely no dialog!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try any of the Pink Panther films by Blake Edwards, starring Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau, in order to experience the context in which audiences were first introduced to this slinky feline character.]

[ official Pink Panther character page on Wikipedia ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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Adulthood is a Myth: A Sarah's Scribbles Collection by Sarah Andersen

Adulthood is a Myth: A Sarah’s Scribbles Collection
by Sarah Andersen [741.5 And]

I’d seen various friends sharing single examples of the Sarah’s Scribbles webcomic in their social media — Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. — and enjoyed Sarah Andersen’s wry, self-deprecating humor. So, when I saw this oversized collection of her work on the library’s “new books” display, I couldn’t pass it up. Andersen is a member of the Millenials generation, and pokes a lot of fun at all the standard Millenial tropes. There are themes that run through many of the strips or stand-alone panels included in this volume. I found myself smiling or laughing frequently, however, I also found a lot of her art to be uncomfortably or awkwardly amateurish, so I have a hard time giving it a full recommendation. The introduction of her rabbit character was fascinating — I found myself really enjoying the strips in which the rabbit appears. All in all, this is lightly amusing, with some serious looks at Millenial attitudes — If you like the online Sarah’s Scribbles comics, you’ll love this. If you prefer your artwork a little more…polished…you have have reservations about this one.

[ official Sarah’s Scribbles web site ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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Koterba: Drawing You In by Jeff Koterba

Koterba: Drawing You In
by Jeff Koterba [741.5 Kot] 

This is a marvelous retrospective collection of examples of Omaha World-Herald editorial cartoonist Jeff Koterba’s work, dating from the 1990s to 2014 (the year this book was published). Koterba provides a lengthy introduction, talking about his history as a cartoonist, and those artists who inspired him as he was growing up (particularly his predecessors at the OWH). He then breaks the collection of single-panel cartoons (each published on its own separate page in this volume) into some broad categories, and provides a page or two of background information about his artistic process for each section.

The book features both B&W and Color cartoons. Koterba does both versions for distribution, both in the Omaha paper and digitally online. He’s also one of a rare breed that still does ALL of his art by hand, not only the pencils and inks but he uses actual watercolor paints to do the color cartoons, not computer software. Political cartoons, especially if the cartoonist is willing to poke fun at all points-of-view, are usually pretty funny, as well as thought-provoking. However, Koterba’s extensive use of Nebraska-centric subjects makes this an even-more-enjoyable collection for somebody who lives here.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the books of former Lincoln Journal-Star editorial cartoonist Paul Fell, of which the libraries have quite a few. Also, Koterba’s memoir, Inklings, is a fascinating read too.] [ official Jeff Koterba web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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The Long Road Home: One Step at a Time by G.B. Trudeau

The Long Road Home: One Step at a Time
by G.B. Trudeau [741.5 Tru]

I have been a fan of G.B. Trudeau’s work on Doonesbury since the early 1970s. Peopled with a vast and varied cast of characters, Trudeau took a comedic poke at all of society’s conventions, usually with a liberal slant. Fron the zoned-out Zonker, to the Hunter S. Thompson parody Duke, to the titular Mike Doonesbury, the characters all have multiple layers to explore. This particular collection gathers the entire storyline of ex-football player B.D. — he who always wore his football helmet in the strip, even after college — as he goes to serve in the military in Iraq. When his humvee is blown up by an RPG while on patrol, B.D. ends up losing his leg, beginning a long journey of recovery, both physical and emotional. B.D. eventually gets a titanium prosthetic leg — this series of comic strips, spread out over a year’s time, tells of every step of his recovery process…sometimes in humorous tones, but often with very serious entries. For a comic strip that usually is satirical, Trudeau is able to treat a very sensitive topic with humor and honesty. Great work! It turns out that The Long Road Home is merely the first of four books in a set that Trudeau put out that tied into soldiers’ experiences in war and their reintegration into society. The War Within continues to follow B.D., as he deals with PTSD and the emotional stresses of being a survivor. Signature Wound: Rocking TBI features B.D. serving as a mentor to one of his former soldiers, who suffered a traumatic brain injury (and lost an eye), and who faces unique challenges fitting back into society. The fourth volume is Mel’s Story, which tells the story of a female military chopper mechanic, who is the victim of rape by a fellow soldier but who works through the healing process enough to re-enlist for another tour of duty in the mideast. These latter three volumes are not owned by the libraries but would be available through our InterLibrary Loan service.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Lisa’s Story: The Other Shoe, by Tom Batiuk — a sensitive and heartbreaking treatment of a family’s experiences with terminal cancer in the Funky Winkerbean comic strip; and Remembering Farley, by Lynn Johnson, the story from puppyhood to passing of the beloved dog in the For Better or Worse comic strip.] 

[ official Doonsbury web site from author Garry “G.B.” Trudeau ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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Pearls Falls Fast by Stephan Pastis

Pearls Falls Fast
by Stephan Pastis [741.5 Pas]

Enjoyable oversized trade paperback collection of recent Pearls Before Swine comic strips, featuring the sarcastic and anti-social "Rat" and the doofus "Pig", plus their various quirky anthropomorphic neighbors. I particularly enjoy the idiotic attempts by the legion of crocodiles to convince Zebra to let them kill and eat him. Pastis has an occasionally (unpleasantly) nasty sense of humor, while at the same time regularly poking fun at himself, with the various characters speaking directly to him as an animated (and much beleaguered) cartoonist. The thing I appreciate the most about this oversized collection is that Pastis has provided background notes for many of the cartoons in this compilation -- making this kind of a "director's cut" collection. If you're not into biting satire, with occasional forays into cartoon violence, then this is definitely not the comic strip for you. But, if you don't have thin skin, and you're looking for a good laugh -- I highly recommended Pearls Before Swine, and this collection in particular! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ see Scott's Reviewer Profile and more of his reviews ]

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the various other Pearls Before Swine compilations.]

[ official Pearls Before Swine web site ] | [ Pearls Before Swine page on Wikipedia ]
 
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The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances by Matthew Inman

The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances
by The Oatmeal, a.k.a. Matthew Inman [741.5 Inm]

As a casual runner who sometimes obsesses about how much to run, the title of this humorous collection of essays and illustrations really caught my attention. Artist Matthew Inman, who goes by the moniker "The Oatmeal" in his online and print art, has penned a terrific volume filled with heartfelt observations about the obsessions some long-distance runners can fall into, counter-balanced by extremely humorous (and occasionally disgusting) art to supplement his observations. I enjoyed this a lot, but as with any other books by The Oatmeal, I find myself having to be somewhat cautious when recommending them. Inman's humor can easily diverge into the revolting and/or offensive. But, if you've got the stomach for off-color humor, you may find this volume exploring the author's tendency to run past the point of practicality to provide fascinating insight. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ see Scott's Reviewer Profile and more of his reviews ]

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try other volumes of The Oatmeal's humor.]

[ official Running page on the official The Oatmeal web site ]

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How About Never...Is Never Good For You? by Robert Mankoff

How About Never...Is Never Good For You? My Life in Cartoons
by Robert Mankoff [Biography Mankoff]

I've always enjoyed the cartoons in The New Yorker magazine -- in fact, I hardly ever read any of the actual articles. Robert Mankoff has been the cartoon editor (as well as a contributor) to that venerable magazine for many years. This book is sort of a mishmash combination of autobiography for Mankoff and history of how cartoons (or "drawings" as they're referred to by the magazine) are submitted to the New Yorker, evaluated by the NY art staff, and ultimately make it into publication. As a bonus, Mankoff gives detailed advice on how best to turn in entries into the New Yorker's weekly "Caption This" contest. Mankoff loads this large book with almost 300 cartoons, both from himself and from other noteworthy New Yorker cartoonists. Mankoff has a terrific writing style - very conversational and sarcastic. This was a very fun, light but informative read. A must for fans of the dying art of traditional single-panel cartooning style. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ see Scott's Reviewer Profile and Other Reviews ]

[There have been a lot of special New Yorker cartoon compilation books put out over the years. Two I'd recommend would be The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker (2004), and The New Yorker 75th Anniversary Cartoon Collection (1999).]

[Also available in downloadable audio, book-on-cd, downloadable E-book and Large Print formats.]

[ official Story Behind This Book web site ] | [ official New Yorker Cartoon Bank web site ]

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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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Darth Vader and Son

Darth Vader and Son
by Jeffrey Brown [741.5 Bro]

A collection of single-panel cartoons of Star Wars' conflicted villain Darth Vader, presuming he's aware that he's the father of Luke Skywalker, and raising 4-year-old Luke as a single father. Brown manages to put a sometimes hilarious, sometimes low-key spin on both established Star Wars iconography and on the perils and pitfalls of life with a small child. Luke in these cartoons is a sweetheart, even if occasionally a pest. The best of the cartoons make use of well-known lines of Star Wars dialog in a new and humorous setting. Lots of fun -- especially for fans of the original film trilogy! Although not every example is successful. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the Star Wars cookbooks and origami books, which also have a lot of fun with established Star Wars mythology.] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [Subscribe to Scott's monthly booklist newsletter It's All Geek to Me! - on the Books, Movies & More newsletter sign-up page].

[ official Comics Weblog for Jeffrey Brown ]
 
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How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You

How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You
by Matthew Innman [741.5 Inn]

For all the cat owners and lovers out there, this book sums it up! A mix of graphic storyboards, charts, graphs, and illustrations which summarize feline behavior in a humorous tone. For instance, the three ways of dealing with cat litter; if we treated our cats like they treat us; and having a baby vs. having a cat. 130 pgs, but still a short and funny read. Some of the cutesy pictures contain adult humor and language. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Awkward Family Pet Photos, What pets do while you're at work, 101 Pet jokes, Squirrel seeks Chipmunk - David Sedaris.] -- recommended by Jeremiah J. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[Also available in downloadable E-book format.]

[ official The Oatmeal web site - Innman's web site ]

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Amazing Cows

Amazing Cows
by Sandra Boynton [j741.5 Boy]

Sandra Boynton, best known as a childrens' board book illustrator and the creator of a long-running line of greeting cards featuring cartoon animals (such as "Hippo Birdie Two Ewe"), occasionally tackles a bigger project, and always with satisfyingly hilarious results. Amazing Cows is her latest -- appropriate for all ages, "up to a hundred and moo". This book, cataloged in our youth collection, is jam-packed full of cow jokes, poems, fake facts and humorous comic books. It's all illustrated with Boynton's highly-recognizable cartoony animals. Anyone who's a fan of cows, or of Boynton's other works, should get a chuckle out of this one. [Note: a song, referenced and linked to at the end of the book, is no longer available at the publisher's website!] [Obviously, Boynton fans can check out all the many board books for little kids. But for the slightly older reader, I recommend Rhinoceros Tap and Philadelphia Chickens.] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Sandra Boynton web site ]

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Chuck Amuck and Chuck Reducks

Chuck Amuck and Chuck Reducks

by Chuck Jones

Chuck Amuck (and a follow-up volume Chuck Reducks) is the lighthearted but extremely informative autobiography of legendary cartoon animator Chuck Jones. Jam-packed with copious illustrations, Chuck Amuck delves into Jones' early animation career and culminates in the many years he spent working in the animation department at Warner Brothers, helping to create dozens of characters and writing and directing hundreds of classic cartoon characters -- like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety and Sylvester, the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, and so many more. Jones has a playful sense of humor, and makes this read as if you were sitting down with an old friend sharing a series of humorous anecdotes. A must-read for classic animation fans, or anyone who grew up watching the classic Warner Brothers cartoons! I will have to admit, though, that I found the first volume far more entertaining than the second. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Chuck Jones web site ]

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Staff Recommendation - New Yorker Book of Technology Cartoons

The New Yorker Book of Technology Cartoons

selected by the editors of The New Yorker [741.5 New]

Looking for a chuckle or a wry grin, on the theme of modern technology? Look no further than this collection of 110 single-panel cartoons that originally appeared in the New Yorker magazine. In all, 45 artists are represented, including such New Yorker stallwarts as Charles Barsotti, John Caldwell, Edward Koren, Robert Mankoff, Mick Stevens and Gahan Wilson, all riffing on the foibles of today's (and tomorrow's) household and business technology. Tired of your computer? Fed up with your cellphone? Confused by your DVR? Give this collection a chance and you'll be smiling soon!

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