From Rocky to Pataki: Character and Caricatures in New York Politics Book

It's been a particularly newsworthy year. As always, where there is news, there is a political cartoonist to comment on the situation. This year, they had plenty of fodder. The Beijing Olympic controversies could alone fill a book. Then, there was the characters of and events leading up to and into the historical American election. But perhaps most poignant was the commentary on the housing crisis, record high gas prices, and the Wall Street crash.

The Best Political Cartoons of the Year 2009 educates, clarifies, and pushes the envelope. Some of the representations were funny. Others were perhaps a little too close for comfort to be humorous but definitely made a point. I'm always amazed at how these people can represent a complex situation in only a few words, yet leave the reader with a very clear understanding of the purpose of the cartoon.