Funny Ladies: The New Yorker's Greatest Women Cartoonists and Their Cartoons

by Liza Donnelly

It's no secret that most New Yorker readers flip through the magazine to look at the cartoons before they ever lay eyes on a word of the text. But what isn't generally known is that over the decades a growing cadre of women artists have contributed to the witty, memorable cartoons that readers look forward to each week. Now Liza Donnelly, herself a renowned cartoonist with The New Yorker for more than twenty years, has written this wonderful, in-depth...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591023440
• ISBN13: 9781591023449
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Prometheus Books
• Length: 217 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 8.7" x 11.3"

Customer Reviews

fascinating history of women in an unusual niche

This is not a cartoon collection, it's a history - but it does include cartoons by every one of the cartoonists mentioned. It slightly before the founding of The New Yorker, with how the magazine came to be, and how Ross's independent wife (her name was Jane Grant, and she didn't change it when she got married) was an influence on what he expected the readership of the magazine to be, and who he would accept as writers and illustrators. Some of the highlights: learning more about Helen Hokinson, much of whose stuff is still funny; the sad fate of Mary Petty. There was a little too much about Donnelly herself in there, but I guess I can understand the impulse. This really did bring out some of the developments in the glass ceiling for particular kinds of women artists. When one thinks about WW2, and women filling jobs that used to be men's, one thinks of Rosie the Riveter - until I read this book, it had not occurred to me that women also filled the men's jobs as cartoonists at The New Yorker! The section on the war era includes some of the funniest cartoons. Of course Roz Chast is included in here - quite possibly my favorite contemporary cartoonist. I greatly enjoyed the details about how she got into cartooning, and seeing how changes in her own stages of life have made it into her cartoons. I think the book as a whole is the same sort of mix as the magazine - interesting articles, punctuated by cartoons. So if you like the magazine, you should enjoy the book!

Complete, funny and amazing

Liza Donnelly has written a great book, a book I have been waiting for. I'm embarrassed to say it's been out a while and I've just discovered it... but Funny Ladies is well researched, well-written, funny and enlightening. The history of women cartoonists at the New Yorker follows the history of women in the 20th century, and reading this book is and eye-opener on both levels. I was thrilled to learn more about cartoonists I'd heard of and discover ones I had not. And learning more about the founders of the New Yorker, Harold Ross and Jane Grant, plus the role cartoon editors there have played over time, is enlightening. A great book, great read, great find. Thanks to the cartoonist/author. There are precious few of us, and I'm so happy you preserved this portion of our history.

A history of how women performed in the narrow career path of cartoonist

"The New Yorker" is universally considered to be the best magazine and it regularly runs cartoons. Unlike many other cartoons noted for their in-your-face approach, the message of the cartoons in "The New Yorker" is generally very subtle. Many great cartoonists have had their work featured in the magazine, and some of them were women. This is their story. It is one that in general is concurrent with what happened in the rest of society. In the early years, there were few career opportunities open to women and their work was evaluated in different ways. The twenties were a time of advancement, but the hard reality of the depression in the thirties had an overall negative effect on the status of women. Once the Second World War began, women were needed in every capacity, so their stock once again rose, only to fall back down after the war and into the reactionary fifties. Finally, the overall advancements in the role of women in the sixties and seventies destroyed all barriers to women cartoonists. Through it all, the pioneers struggled with their drawings and captions, using them to make important statements about the world that existed around them. It was a world that they struggled against, yet eventually emerged triumphant through the success of those of their gender that succeeded them. As much as anything, this book is a chronicle of the emergence of women from the "pedestal of assumed inferiority" to one where their work is appreciated, respected and expected.

A wonderful, vivid overview.

FUNNY LADIES: THE NEW YORKER'S GREATEST WOMEN CARTOONISTS AND THEIR CARTOONS could easily have been featured in our 'Cartoons and Graphic Novels' section, but is reviewed here for its ability to appeal beyond the usual confines of the cartoonist fan's world. Over the decades a growing core of female artists has been creating New Yorker cartoons weekly: Liza Donnelly, herself a New Yorker cartoonist for over twenty years, provides a history of women's humor and its evolution, pairing an anthology of cartoons with a survey of the genre in a wonderful, vivid overview. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch