First published 2008
Robert Mankoff opens the doors to The New Yorker's most beloved feature. Since 1925, the magazine has built its reputation on sharp cartoons that define cultural wit. The weekly caption contest draws thousands of hopeful writers, yet only one emerges victorious each time. Mankoff presents the century's top 100 contests, complete with winning entries, runner-up attempts, and the vast sea of submissions that didn't make the cut. He tracks down contest winners to learn how they crafted their perfect lines and how victory changed their lives. The book exposes the contest's inner machinery while providing readers with blank cartoons to test their own comedic instincts. Statistics reveal who enters these competitions and what drives them to try. This collection marks the beginning of a six-book series exploring the intersection of visual art and verbal wit. Readers discover whether they possess the rare skill needed to distill humor into a single, perfect caption.
Genres: art, humor, non-fiction, comedy
Vibes: thought-provoking, whimsical
Tropes: humor
Setting: New York
Period: 1925, 20th-century, 21st-century
216 pages · Hardcover · Andrews McMeel Publishing