Why you should listen
Illustrator and humorist Bruce McCall painted an imagined future: a supercharged, streamlined fantasyland that teetered on the edge of hysteria. A longtime contributor to the New Yorker, Bruce McCall was a humorist and illustrator whose best-known work drew on the big-shouldered hubris of the middle 1920s and the early 1950s to create a future paradise where the skies are fllled with zeppelins and every car has wings. He was a wry observer of contemporary life and a witty writer.
McCall began his career as an illustrator for car ads — by his own account, not a very good illustrator. He left the field and became a copywriter when, on a whim, he and a friend sent some humorous drawings to Playboy. He soon connected with the founders of the National Lampoon, a pioneering humor magazine, and went on to create some of their most enduring images — finding in the 1970s countercultural media a rich audience for his satirical take on the Atomic Age. He later brought the same magic to the New Yorker, where he drew more than 80 covers. His books include Marveltown and 50 Things to Do with a Book: (Now That Reading Is Dead).
McCall began his career as an illustrator for car ads — by his own account, not a very good illustrator. He left the field and became a copywriter when, on a whim, he and a friend sent some humorous drawings to Playboy. He soon connected with the founders of the National Lampoon, a pioneering humor magazine, and went on to create some of their most enduring images — finding in the 1970s countercultural media a rich audience for his satirical take on the Atomic Age. He later brought the same magic to the New Yorker, where he drew more than 80 covers. His books include Marveltown and 50 Things to Do with a Book: (Now That Reading Is Dead).
