Very Fine Lines

“Two plumbers working on a sink with an alligator coming out of the faucet? Yes. Two drunks brainstorming about starting the Drinking Network? No. A guy with his hand chopped off pointing the way to the Islamic court? Ahhhhhh . . . maybe. It’s Wednesday afternoon and David Remnick, the editor of the New Yorker, is picking cartoons. A few minutes ago, Bob Mankoff, the magazine’s cartoon editor, entered Remnick’s office carrying three wire baskets and 81 cartoons.”