Patricia Highsmith’s Secret Career in Comics

The Cartoons & Puzzles Issue. Plus: the music of “Maestro”; dismantling the technopoly; and how Picasso haunted 2023. View in browser | Update your preferences Monday, December 18, 2023 In today’s newsletter, goofs and gags, and then: • Alex Ross on the music of “Maestro” • Dismantling the technopoly • How Picasso haunted 2023 The Cartoons & Puzzles Issue Illustration by Lauren Humphrey “It’s the end of the year—our annual opportunity to fill the magazine’s vaunted pages with nonsense and mischief,” Emma Allen, the cartoon editor, and Liz Maynes-Aminzade, the puzzles-and-games editor, explain, of this week’s special issue. Inside, you’ll find comic meditations on life in the big city—Taxidermied monkeys! Celebrity sightings! Times Square Elmos!—from the artists Roz Chast, Leslie Stein, Ngozi Ukazu, and more. There are also crosswords, puzzles, and games, including Lauren Humphrey’s street scene (above) in which at least nineteen things are amiss. (Can you spot them all?) Round it out with an armful of new cartoons and Ian Frazier’s end-of-year poem, “Greetings, Friends!,” and you’ve got a good dose of merry and bright to keep out the gloom. Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » Editor’s Pick Comic Strip Patricia Highsmith’s Vanishing Panels Few know that the acclaimed novelist, whose cartoons were rejected by The New Yorker, forged a secret side career as a scriptwriter for superhero comics. By Ali Fitzgerald More from the Issue Cover Story: The artist Edward Steed talks about “The Flip Side” and the hidden spaces around us. “Just like anywhere else, New York City is not always what it seems,” he says. “There is another world out there, if you are not afraid to look for it.” Shop all our covers » Can Crosswords Be More Inclusive? The puzzles spread from the United States across the globe, but the American crossword today doesn’t always reflect the linguistic changes that immigration brings. Natan Last on what needs to change. Am I One of the Last Living Relatives of a Literary Legend? When she picked up a new biography of the great Polish writer Bruno Schulz, Kathryn Schulz realized that rumors she’d heard since childhood had a life far beyond her family. Plus: Jeannie Suk Gersen on university presidents under fire; James Wood on a novel set on the International Space Station; and more. Explore the issue Culture Dept. Annals of Technology It’s Time to Dismantle the Technopoly As technology accelerates, we need to stop accepting the bad consequences along with the good ones. By Cal Newport 2023 in Review The Year Picasso Haunted Us Fifty years after the artist’s death, his influence has waned, but his approach to the past remains deeply affecting. By Jackson Arn Cultural Comment “Maestro” Honors the Chaotic Charisma of Leonard Bernstein The famed composer-conductor had a dire, sweaty passion for music, and the new bio-pic has a six-minute set piece that strikingly conveys his joy in the power of sound. By Alex Ross The Talk of the Town Illustration by João Fazenda Do you even read, bro? Jon Finkel, who pumps iron in a garage gym in Florida known as the Flex Factory, has become an unlikely literary influencer. In his weekly newsletter, “Books & Biceps,” he shares book recommendations with his fellow “sophisticated meatheads.” Finkel explains to Ben McGrath that “the overlap of dudes who lift and also read a ton is, like, the most underserved market.” Read more » Fun & Games Dept. Puzzles & Games Dept. Triple Play Crossword A whopper of a puzzle. By Brooke Husic and Adam Wagner Daily Cartoon Monday, December 18th By Drew Panckeri Name Drop: Can you guess the identity of a notable person—contemporary or historical—in six clues? Play a quiz from our archive » P.S. “Each year, due mostly to minor misspellings and very poor penmanship, hundreds of children’s [holiday] letters are sent to Satan, Dark Lord of the Underworld,” Matt Passet writes, in a classic Daily Shouts. From time to time, it turns out, Satan is moved to respond. Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. Plus, browse more newsletters and invite a friend to sign up. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the daily newsletter from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.