ACKOWLEDGMENTS

My biggest debt of gratitude goes to the artists, past and present, including those

who are not in this book, but who all have taken up the challenge of making story-

telling images. I’m especially grateful to Art Spiegelman, who introduced me to

the universe of graphic art and encouraged me to explore in all directions; to Saul

Steinberg who taught me how to edit images with Oxam’s razor; and to Barry Blitt

for making me laugh every time we talk. None of this would exist without the

vision of The New Yorker’s editors Tina Brown and David Remnick. David Remnick

not only provides incentives for the artists to take chances week after week, but

he has always stood by what he publishes, often with remarkable courage. This

book greatly benefited from his suggestions. I’m also grateful to Pamela Maffei

McCarthy, The New Yorker’s deputy editor, for her support and her eagerness

to see the covers get their due. I owe a large debt to Andrew Wylie, my cham-

pion, for his trust and support and for getting the project into the hands of Eric

Himmel, editor extraordinaire at Abrams. Eric’s guidance and unwavering trust

navigated this project through many storms and delivered it to safe harbor. My

grateful thanks to Tamara Arellano and Kara Strubel at Abrams, who polished the

draft; Eric Rayman, who contributed his guidance, knowledge of funny people,

and legal expertise; Jonathan Bennett, who advised about design; Peter Canby,

who recommended Julie Tate and to Julie Tate for her expert fact-checking; Greg

Captain, for his expertise on the production of the covers; and to Kate Welsh,

Emily Kan, Mina Kaneko, Emily Viemeister, and Leigh Stein for their help with

the logistics and for their correspondence with the artists. And last, but not

least, I’m immensely grateful to my bras droit, Nadja Spiegelman, who provided

everything this project needed at every turn: discussions that allowed the chapters

to find their shape, interviews with the artists, corrections of the drafts, and trust

in the outcome. Nadja’s intelligence, sense of humor, and superb writing skills

substantially improved this book. If it’s any good, it’s thanks to the artists, thanks

to Eric Himmel and to David Remnick, and very much thanks to Nadja.

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