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.com Review ----------- Guest Review by Roz Chast ------------------------- Roz Chast Matthew Diffee Matt Diffee’s cartoons have appeared in The New Yorker since 1999. Since then his distinctive drawings have made me, and almost everyone I know, laugh like a bat. They don’t look like anyone else’s. He has a style that’s hard to describe. He draws with a soft pencil in a sort of realistic way. The faces are never cartoon-goofy. They have a comic bite that is original and dark and completely his own. He also has some interesting obsessions, like lumberjacks. I never thought much about lumberjacks. But thanks to Matt, I now know: lumberjacks ARE funny. Maybe it’s the hats they wear, or those plaid lumberjack shirts, or the way they stand there in their lumberjackian get-ups, thinking their lumberjack thoughts. It could also be the word “lumberjack.” All I know is that seeing the world through Matt’s eyes makes things seem funnier, which is a good talent to have if for some reason you have decided that you are a cartoonist. Anyone who reads The New Yorker is familiar with certain cartoon genres: the food cart, the caveman, heaven jokes, cocktail party banter, talking dogs, desk jokes, Grim Reapers, Fountains of Youth, and diners in a restaurant, for starters. It’s no small accomplishment to bring something new and truly funny to these set-ups. Matt does. Bigtime. One of my favorite cartoons—not just in this book, but in the ENTIRE CARTOON UNIVERSE—is the one where a waiter tells a man and woman seated at the table: “Careful. These plates are extremely dirty.” I would say that is a classic gag. Another one is the old man at a crossroads where there are two arrows, one pointing to the Fountain of Youth, the other to the Fountain of Bacon. That's hilarious. I won't quote any more. I don't want to give too many of these jokes away. His work is contemporary, but never in a contrived way. The drawings are wonderful. This is an original and funny book. Read more ( javascript:void(0) ) Review ------ “Diffee is a master of the single-panel cartoon, able to convey in one picture and few words a novel’s worth of wit.” Author: Michael Ian Black, "New York Times Sunday Book Review" "One of the great pleasures of being alive today is that we are able to witness the genius of Matt Diffee. What do I mean by that? Buy this book and see for yourself." Author: Andy Borowitz “Though I prefer mechanically made, computer generated cartoons, this collection of hand-drawn ones, produced by human thought, is outstanding. Matt is truly one of the funniest people in the rarified world of first-rate cartooning.” Author: Steve Martin “Matt Diffee’s book is so funny. How annoying is that?” Author: Jim Gaffigan “Densely rich and hilarious, like the brownies crazy Aunt Lena used to make.” Author: Jack Handey "Matt Diffee has a finely tuned radar for irony, hypocrisy and abject lunacy in the everyday world. What that radar picks up, he then draws with stunning skill, and the result is cartoon gold." Author: Ed Helms "This damn book by Diffee issimultaneously clever, hilarious, charming, and inventive. How I hate him forit." Author: Dan Piraro, cartoonist of the syndicated comic strip "Bizarro" "Hilarious, from beginning to end. Diffee is a one-liner laureate." Author: Yoni Brenner, "New Yorker" humorist "Matt Diffee is smart and funny. Put yourself in his hands, he can help you." Author: Michael Kupperman, cartoonist and author "This book confirms that Michael Jordan was the Matthew Diffee of basketball. See what I did there?" Author: Drew Dernavich "New Yorker" cartoonist Read more ( javascript:void(0) ) See all Editorial Reviews ( /dp/product-description/1476748748/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books&isInIframe=0 )