Berger and Wyse

If one went on a cartoon diet, and rationed oneself to one a week, this book would last the whole year. The problem with a collection of cartoons in book form is that it tends to be scanned once or twice, and is then banished to the downstairs loo, where someone else may skim through it. They also make handy presents, which is why they are usually piled high at the till in bookshops.

The advantage with this book over others is that all the cartoons are about food, in the broadest sense, and the appeal is wide as the subject. Some are very funny, like the two stuffed olives sitting at a table, one with a cocktail stick stuck right through him, with the caption “Have you been drinking?” In another Hansel and Gretel are approaching the gingerbread house with a sign outside reading “Caution: may contain nuts”.

Worth the price of the book alone is the one featuring a couple sitting in an elegant drawing room: “Is it too early for a Christmas drink?” “Mid-April? No I don’t think so”. The drawings are also available as limited edition digital prints through their website - www.bergerandwyse.com - where there is a link to Amazon, so one could have a framed picture in the downstairs loo, as well as the book.

Don Grant

Absolute Press

ISBN 978 119066506-12

Price: £9.99