Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of the New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist

New Yorker cartoonist Maslin pays homage to artist Peter Arno (1904%E2%80%931968) whose witty drawings created a style that's been synonymous with the New Yorker since its launch in 1925. Maslin's riveting biography is%E2%80%94surprisingly%E2%80%94the first on the rakish genius, who arguably shaped the look of the weekly magazine. Beginning with Arno's posh education at Hotchkiss and Yale, Maslin depicts the young, defiant artist (born Curtis Arnoux Peters) determined to become a cartoonist despite the strong objections of his father, a New York state supreme court judge from whom he became estranged. His first piece appeared in the 18th issue of the magazine under his pseudonym, possibly in an effort to sever ties with his father, suggests Maslin. Readers of the New Yorker in the 1920s embraced Arno's work, especially after the debut of the Whoops Sisters series, featuring two feisty old ladies who used language laced in double entendre. From 1925 to his death in 1968, with a short hiatus during WWII, the New Yorker published hundreds of Arno's drawings, many of which are reproduced in the book. Maslin fills the book with insights into the cartoonist's life and art, noting that the world he depicted on paper as well as in his messy private life reflected "the implication that something unsavory was about to take place." (Apr.)