{"product_id":"the-ruling-clawss-the-socialist-cartoons-of-syd-hoff-9781681377414","title":"The Ruling Clawss: The Socialist Cartoons of Syd Hoff","description":"\u003cb\u003ePublished under the pseudonym A. Redfield by prominent \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker \u003c\/i\u003econtributor Syd Hoff in the 1930s, these mordant and marvellously drawn gag comics skewer the rich and powerful with a pointed pen.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDuring his career as a \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e cartoonist, and before he wrote \u003ci\u003eDanny and the Dinosaur\u003c\/i\u003e, Syd Hoff wrote under a different name. He was A. Redfield, a cartoonist for the communist newspaper the \u003ci\u003eDaily Worker\u003c\/i\u003e, and a scourge of the rich and powerful. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eScorning what he saw as the complicity and stale jokes of cartooning peers, Hoff set his sights on the ruling class and revealed them for what they were: hilariously inept, deeply selfish, and incredibly dangerous. Hoff spared nothing from his pen, lampooning police brutality, thin-skinned industrialists, racists, and the looming threat of fascism at home and abroad. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis new edition of \u003ci\u003eThe Ruling Clawss\u003c\/i\u003e includes a new introduction by the historian Philip Nel, who reveals\u2028 the story behind the rise and disappearance of Hoffʼs Redfield. \u003ci\u003eThe Ruling Clawss\u003c\/i\u003e cements Hoff as a master of the gag comic, whose work remains powerfully funny and troublingly resonant.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBorn in the Bronx, New York, \u003cb\u003eSyd Hoff\u003c\/b\u003e (1912-2004) sold his first cartoon to \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e at age 18 and went on to publish more than 500 cartoons in the magazine, becoming known for his depictions of lower-middle-class life in New York City. Beginning in 1933 and ending in the 1940s, Hoff contributed cartoons to leftist magazines such as \u003ci\u003eNew Masses \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Daily Worker\u003c\/i\u003e under the pen name \"A. Redfield\" in order to conceal his political sympathies. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePhilip Nel\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eis a scholar of children's literature and comics. He has authored or co-edited thirteen books, most recently the second edition of \u003ci\u003eKeywords for Children's Literature\u003c\/i\u003e and the fourth volume of Crockett Johnson's comic strip \u003ci\u003eBarnaby\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"New York Review of Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50487449452818,"sku":"9781681377414","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_48f0a9c5-a00b-474c-8652-d948ff18cecc.jpg?v=1730441345","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-ruling-clawss-the-socialist-cartoons-of-syd-hoff-9781681377414","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}