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The New Yorker Book of Cartoons
New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons
Spanning the years from 1938 to 1998, this delightful collection of cartoons about business features the cartoons of many of America's favorite cartoonists, including George Booth, Roz Chast, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Edward Koren, Gahan Wilson, and more. Robert Mankoff, cartoon editor of The New Yorker, selected the cartoons from the magazine's archives and David Remnick, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and editor of The New Yorker, starts things off with a wonderful introduction.
110 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1998
About the author
David Remnick
225 books416 followersDavid Remnick (born October 29, 1958) is an American journalist, writer, and magazine editor. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for his book Lenin s Tomb The Last Days of the Soviet Empire. Remnick has been editor of The New Yorker magazine since 1998. He was named Editor of the Year by Advertising Age in 2000. Before joining The New Yorker, Remnick was a reporter and the Moscow correspondent for The Washington Post. He has also served on the New York Public Library’s board of trustees. In 2010 he published his sixth book, The Bridge The Life and Rise of Barack Obama.
Remnick was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, the son of a dentist, Edward C. Remnick, and an art teacher, Barbara (Seigel). He was raised in Hillsdale, New Jersey, in a secular Jewish home with, he has said, “a lot of books around.” He is also childhood friends with comedian Bill Maher. He graduated from Princeton University in 1981 with an A.B. in comparative literature; there, he met writer John McPhee and helped found The Nassau Weekly. Remnick has implied that after college he wanted to write novels, but due to his parents’ illnesses, he needed a paying job—there was no trust fund to rely on. Remnick wanted to be a writer, so he chose a career in journalism, taking a job at The Washington Post. He is married to reporter Esther Fein of The New York Times and has three children, Alex, Noah, and Natasha. He enjoys jazz music and classic cinema and is fluent in Russian.
He began his reporting career at The Washington Post in 1982 shortly after his graduation from Princeton. His first assignment was to cover the United States Football League. After six years, in 1988, he became the newspaper’s Moscow correspondent, which provided him with the material for Lenin's Tomb. He also received the George Polk Award for excellence in journalism.
Remnick became a staff writer at The New Yorker in September, 1992, after ten years at The Washington Post.
Remnick’s 1997 New Yorker article “Kid Dynamite Blows Up,” about boxer Mike Tyson, was nominated for a National Magazine Award. In 1998 he became editor, succeeding Tina Brown. Remnick promoted Hendrik Hertzberg, a former Jimmy Carter speechwriter and former editor of The New Republic, to write the lead pieces in “Talk of the Town,” the magazine’s opening section. In 2005 Remnick earned $1 million for his work as the magazine’s editor.
In 2003 he wrote an editorial supporting the Iraq war in the days when it started. In 2004, for the first time in its 80-year history, The New Yorker endorsed a presidential candidate, John Kerry.
In May 2009, Remnick was featured in a long-form Twitter account of Dan Baum’s career as a New Yorker staff writer. The tweets, written over the course of a week, described the difficult relationship between Baum and Remnick, his editor.
Remnick’s biography of President Barack Obama, The Bridge, was released on April 6, 2010. It features hundreds of interviews with friends, colleagues, and other witnesses to Obama’s rise to the presidency of the United States. The book has been widely reviewed in journals.
In 2010 Remnick lent his support to the campaign urging the release of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted of ordering the murder of her husband by her lover and adultery.
In 2013 Remnick ’81 was the guest speaker at Princeton University Class Day.
Remnick provided guest commentary and contributed to NBC coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi Russia including the opening ceremony and commentary for NBC News.
Remnick was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, the son of a dentist, Edward C. Remnick, and an art teacher, Barbara (Seigel). He was raised in Hillsdale, New Jersey, in a secular Jewish home with, he has said, “a lot of books around.” He is also childhood friends with comedian Bill Maher. He graduated from Princeton University in 1981 with an A.B. in comparative literature; there, he met writer John McPhee and helped found The Nassau Weekly. Remnick has implied that after college he wanted to write novels, but due to his parents’ illnesses, he needed a paying job—there was no trust fund to rely on. Remnick wanted to be a writer, so he chose a career in journalism, taking a job at The Washington Post. He is married to reporter Esther Fein of The New York Times and has three children, Alex, Noah, and Natasha. He enjoys jazz music and classic cinema and is fluent in Russian.
He began his reporting career at The Washington Post in 1982 shortly after his graduation from Princeton. His first assignment was to cover the United States Football League. After six years, in 1988, he became the newspaper’s Moscow correspondent, which provided him with the material for Lenin's Tomb. He also received the George Polk Award for excellence in journalism.
Remnick became a staff writer at The New Yorker in September, 1992, after ten years at The Washington Post.
Remnick’s 1997 New Yorker article “Kid Dynamite Blows Up,” about boxer Mike Tyson, was nominated for a National Magazine Award. In 1998 he became editor, succeeding Tina Brown. Remnick promoted Hendrik Hertzberg, a former Jimmy Carter speechwriter and former editor of The New Republic, to write the lead pieces in “Talk of the Town,” the magazine’s opening section. In 2005 Remnick earned $1 million for his work as the magazine’s editor.
In 2003 he wrote an editorial supporting the Iraq war in the days when it started. In 2004, for the first time in its 80-year history, The New Yorker endorsed a presidential candidate, John Kerry.
In May 2009, Remnick was featured in a long-form Twitter account of Dan Baum’s career as a New Yorker staff writer. The tweets, written over the course of a week, described the difficult relationship between Baum and Remnick, his editor.
Remnick’s biography of President Barack Obama, The Bridge, was released on April 6, 2010. It features hundreds of interviews with friends, colleagues, and other witnesses to Obama’s rise to the presidency of the United States. The book has been widely reviewed in journals.
In 2010 Remnick lent his support to the campaign urging the release of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted of ordering the murder of her husband by her lover and adultery.
In 2013 Remnick ’81 was the guest speaker at Princeton University Class Day.
Remnick provided guest commentary and contributed to NBC coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi Russia including the opening ceremony and commentary for NBC News.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 16, 2013
I have always loved the New Yorker cartoons and this collection has some real gems.
June 2, 2021
This was not my favorite New Yorker cartoon book, but using my own definitions, a 5-star book is one I'd re-read, and I just re-read it. It's enjoyable, about like the rest of the series.
April 9, 2023
Very good – the New Yorker’s cartoons are always great, and they do a particularly good job here at making the business world laughable.
October 16, 2010
In The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons, cartoonists such as Robert Mankoff, Lee Lorenz and Leo Cullum, show the worst and most unflattering depictions of business life. For the most part they hit the head on the nail. They showcase every stereotype from avoiding taxes to the idea of women working in business (oh, the horror!). But does The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons help one become a better manager or administrator? More than likely, no, but hey, everyone loves to look at cartoons!
Since I am not motivated by the changes in the Dow or how to write off a trip to Jamaica as a business expense, I was not exactly too thrilled with the cartoons. I am sure someone who is part of this corporate world could relate to these satirical comics. For the most part the cartoons depict corporate businesses and conglomerates, but there are few average ‘office’ types, usually depicting mindless employees working at a cubicle. They are so busy working that they do not notice their co-worker has been dead for some time and all that remains is his skeleton.
For the most part, the subject topics are pretty fixed. The most popular themes are women in business, avoiding taxes, IRS, and the loss/gain of profits. The cartoons are meant to depict the worst of the worst, which could help you become a better manager…if you are initially fearful of women in the workplace and/or determined to avoid paying taxes. In the forward for the book, current editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick, said it best when he wrote, “The New Yorker’s cartoonists, each in his or her own way, have seized on the business world and found laughter in its codes, clichés, rivalries, desperations, vanities, anxieties, and power relations.”
Overall, The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons is a humorous read that most business people will enjoy, but I do not think you should base your managerial theories off of it. The characters and situations portrayed are put in The New Yorker because they are the worst of the worst. The actions of the characters can definitely teach you to be more aware of your situation and the people around you, but some of the lessons of the comics are just plain common sense. Then again common sense is not common.
Since I am not motivated by the changes in the Dow or how to write off a trip to Jamaica as a business expense, I was not exactly too thrilled with the cartoons. I am sure someone who is part of this corporate world could relate to these satirical comics. For the most part the cartoons depict corporate businesses and conglomerates, but there are few average ‘office’ types, usually depicting mindless employees working at a cubicle. They are so busy working that they do not notice their co-worker has been dead for some time and all that remains is his skeleton.
For the most part, the subject topics are pretty fixed. The most popular themes are women in business, avoiding taxes, IRS, and the loss/gain of profits. The cartoons are meant to depict the worst of the worst, which could help you become a better manager…if you are initially fearful of women in the workplace and/or determined to avoid paying taxes. In the forward for the book, current editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick, said it best when he wrote, “The New Yorker’s cartoonists, each in his or her own way, have seized on the business world and found laughter in its codes, clichés, rivalries, desperations, vanities, anxieties, and power relations.”
Overall, The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons is a humorous read that most business people will enjoy, but I do not think you should base your managerial theories off of it. The characters and situations portrayed are put in The New Yorker because they are the worst of the worst. The actions of the characters can definitely teach you to be more aware of your situation and the people around you, but some of the lessons of the comics are just plain common sense. Then again common sense is not common.
August 15, 2008
Decent collection of business- and workplace-oriented New Yorker cartoons. It was neat to see cartoons that my dad has clipped and sent to me over the years, among them my all-time favorite: a guy on the phone in his office flipping through his calendar, with the caption, "No, Thursday's out. How about never--is never good for you?" Unfortunately, the book had a "slapped together at the last minute" kind of feel (not unlike "The 100 Best Comics of the Century") that made me enjoy it much less than I expected to.
March 3, 2015
A fun collection, however it repeats some of the cartoons in the technology book, you'd think a magazine as old as The New Yorker would have enough business cartoons that they wouldn't have to borrow from other books.
July 19, 2009
The New Yorker cartoons are often clever, and some of these business cartoons go in cycles of relevence. Interesting that way.
June 23, 2013
Cartoon from The New Yorker dealing with business topics. Overall a mixed bag, with some great ones, including timeless, old, ones, as well as some that are "blah."
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews