Hand-Drawn Jokes for Smart Attractive People, by Matthew Diffee

Matthew Diffee has one of those senses of humor that, well, some people will get and others won't.  I found his cartoons in Hand Drawn Jokes for Smart Attractive People to be pretty hilarious.  Diffee writes that he has found that people who don't like his work "are, without exception, ugly and dumb," whereas the people who enjoy his work are just the opposite.  In fact, "the more beautiful and intelligent a person is, the more they tend to enjoy my stuff."

I don't know how smart or attractive I am, but I definitely enjoyed Diffee's take on life.  In one memorable piece, a doctor declares that athlete's foot is a flattering name.  It sounds better than "disgusting fungus."  So he comes up with other flattering names, like "cheerleader's lip" (herpes), "poet laureate throat" (goiter), and "billionaire's sphincter" (hemorrhoids).

Some of the cartoons are quick and silly, like the sloppy looking guy sitting in front of a sign reading, "Face Painting Five Bucks."  With one hand he's dragging on a cigarette.  In the other hand he's expectantly grasping a paint roller in a pan of paint.  I'd love to see the finished product!

Diffee's work has appeared in The New Yorker.  I haven't looked at that magazine in years, but it might be worth picking up just to see what Diffee comes up with next.  No matter how smart or attractive you are, you just might like Diffee's unique humor.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!