Interview: Bob Eckstein and EVERYONE’S A CRITIC

Everyone’s a Critic by Bob Eckstein

Bob Eckstein is an award-winning writer, New Yorker cartoonist, cartoon editor, and author of The New York Times bestseller Footnotes From the World’s Greatest Bookstores. His cartoons, OpEds, and short stories appear regularly in The New York Times, New York Daily News, MAD magazine, Barron’s, Readers Digest, The Spectator, Prospect, Wall Street Journal, Playboy, Atlas Obscura, LitHub, among many others. He was a columnist for The Village Voice, New York Newsday, and TimeOut New York. He has been interviewed in over 100 TV, radio and magazine spots including Good Morning America and People magazine. He was selected Erma Bombeck Humorist of the Month. It was a pleasure to get to chat with Bob about his “series of happy accidents” that have led him to such a multi-faceted career.

New Yorker cartoon by Bob Eckstein

Becoming a regular contributing cartoonist to The New Yorker was a fluke at first. It all began while Bob was in the process of gathering up New Yorker cartoons having to do with snowmen for his book, The History of the Snowman (2007). This led to having lunch with legendary New Yorker cartoonist Sam Gross. At the lunch, Sam encouraged Bob to visit the office and submit a batch of ten cartoons for Cartoon Editor Bob Mankoff to look over. At first, Bob was hesitant but he finally warmed up to the idea. As it turned out, one of his cartoons was accepted. It was something of a miracle, beginner’s luck, and it would take many months before another cartoon was accepted but the die was cast. Bob Eckstein had embarked upon a career as a gag cartoonist at a time when there were still plenty of magazines accepting gag cartoons.

New Yorker cartoon by Bob Eckstein

Fast-forward a few more years, Bob Eckstein has moved on to creating books. In recent years, he has created Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores (2016), The Illustrated History of the Snowman (2018), The Ultimate Cartoon Book of Book Cartoons (2019), and Everyone’s a Critic: The Ultimate Cartoon Book by the World’s Greatest Cartoonists (2019).

The Illustrated History of the Snowman by Bob Eckstein

Postcards inspired from the book, Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores.

From Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores by Bob Eckstein

Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores by Bob Eckstein

Bob Eckstein spent seven years traveling the world researching and attempting to answer the age-old question, Who made the first snowman? and is the world’s leading snowman expert. He has spoken publicly on the subject at many venues like The Grolier Club, Milford Theater and the Cooperage Theater.

Bob Eckstein

It’s no surprise that a quest to understand the snowman would take a circuitous path. In Bob’s case, it somehow led him to becoming a cartoonist for The New Yorker! And then there’s Bob’s love of independent bookstores. That journey led him to not only create a New York Times bestseller, Footnotes From the World’s Greatest Bookstores, but it also led to him editing what has become a series of New Yorker cartoon books. As Bob told me, the idea behind both The Ultimate Cartoon Book of Book Cartoons and Everyone’s a Critic: The Ultimate Cartoon Book is to present the very best cartoonists. Themes are important but, in the end, it’s all about the quality, the artistry, and a certain sensibility. Mr. Eckstein has done a wonderful job of showcasing that magical blend of talent.

You can listen to part of our conversation by clicking the link below: