From the series "Golf Carts of the Third Reich" to a U.S. energy policy that involves oil derricks on the White House lawn, frequent New Yorker
contributor McCall doesn't just draw cartoons. His ideas are amplified by texts that explain things like "The Rise and Fall of the Butter Tart: A brief but exhaustive history of Canada's premier patriotic pastry." McCall's trademark images are often painted in the style of deco or jet age-era advertisements, giving an ironic edge to his satirical futurism: the "John F. Kennedy Interglobal Rocketport 2020" is beset by the same traffic snarls, irate passengers and cab drivers, and interminable construction as its current namesake. The book encompasses 20 years of McCall's work for the New Yorker,
the New York Times
and other publications, as well as some unpublished work. As he notes in a preface, McCall explicitly eschews the "topical crap" that has perhaps lost its edge as its cultural context has evaporated. The broader humor, coupled with stylistic consistency, more than carries the day—and a few make their way in. Revealing "our post-Enron transportation future," McCall shows how "[h]ighways will come alive with the boing-boing-boing of sporty pogo kars and the steady brrrrrrrr of key-wound, clockwork-powered cars and trucks." If only. (Oct.)
