The New Yorker Book of Doctor Cartoons

by The New Yorker

Book Overview

85 cartoons This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679430695
• ISBN13: 9780679430698
• Release Date: November 1993
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.4" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

What Can I Do for You in the Next Three Minutes? - HMO Stall

I first discovered The New Yorker when I was a teenager. When I saw how many people subscribed to the magazine, I started asking people why they did. Inevitably, the answer was, "For the cartoons." Since then, I have come to realize that The New Yorker is like the hall of fame for cartoonists. I became interested in this book after reading the excellent The New Yorker Book of Money Cartoons. I was a bit disappointed in this book by comparison, which explains the four star rating. While the cartoons are terrific, the book would have benefited from having a great introduction like the one that Christopher Buckley wrote for the money cartoons.There are 86 pages of cartoons and over 90 cartoons in this book. Almost all of them are outstanding.The humor is aimed at both physicians and psychiatrists. Somehow, the humor about the latter seemed funnier than the former. "Does the doctor hug?" was one of my favorites. The strong conservative bent of many physicians was well captured by one cartoon that said, "Doctor, you must stop addressing your Medicare patients as Comrade."Lawyer humor, and the physician's usual conerns about law suits are here, too. "The doctor's lawyer will see you now."The questionable bedside manners of some physicians and the quirks of patients were equally well represented in the cartoon that said, "Well, Phil, after years of vague complaints and imaginary ailments, we finally have something to work with."The ever-growing specialization of medicine came in for comment in this cartoon: "I'd like you to see a botanist. You exhibit many of the symptoms of Dutch elm disease."Finally, some humor was aimed directly at the profession. In a group of ducks, one says "Let me through. I'm a quack."A strength of this book is that it will definitely appeal to patients and nurses. I also think that many physicians will like it, as long as they have a sense of self-deprecating humor. Physician, heal thyself!The book is excellent in pointing out that personal habits, the training of the physician, and philosophical opinions can interfere with delivering good medicine. Humor like this can be a tonic to help bust the stalls that those sources of misconceptions and miscommunications help create. Laughter is not only the best medicine, it can bring about better medicine.

A book full of cartoons based on medical mishaps!

I like to read a whole lot of all kinds of cartoon books, I have always enjoyed the funny papers, and now here is a collection of funny situations based on the numerous kinds MD's that people deal with. I'm thinking of showing this book to my own psychologist. He would get a kick out of this sort of thing, as he has got a great sense of humor to speak of himself, which helps a great deal during our sessions. Anyway, like the rest of the "New Yorker" series, get this cool compilation soon. Each doctor's office should have one for the amusement of the patients! Hey, how about one for dentists or veternarians as well?