Publication: April 2, 2008
Media contact: Cary Goldstein
212-264-1266; cary.goldstein@hbgusa.com
www.twelvebooks.com

“SEX AND SENSIBILITY flaunts the sass and wit of 10 eminent artists — many of whom are regular contributors to the New Yorker — who’ve mastered the satisfying one-two punch of image and caption.”
—San Francisco Bay Guardian

Internet dating, adultery, and women’s lib; S&M, sex toys, and threesomes —
SEX AND SENSIBILITY covers it all. And then some…

These 200 brilliant cartoons forge new ground in the proverbial battle of the sexes. Most of these selections could never have been published before, either for being too risqué, or for tackling an aspect of love that simply didn’t exist, such as texting. Made up of predominantly unpublished cartoons SEX AND SENSIBILITY incisively captures the nuances of 21st century romance—or lack there of. Eight of the ten SEX AND SENSIBILITY artists are regular contributors to The New Yorker, and two are Pulitzer-prize winning editorial cartoonists. Together they not only nail what it means to be modern and in love, they also offer searing insights into the ways that women’s thoughts on the subject have changed, and how the cartooning and humor industries have reflected that, from it’s earliest peaks in the 20s with Dorothy Parker, Mae West and their ilk, to its low points in the 50s and the subsequent feminist resurgence in the 60s and 70s, to its varied and brilliant incarnations today.

SEX AND SENSIBILITY: Ten Women Examine the Lunacy of Modern Love . . . in 200 Cartoons, edited by Liza Donnelly, will be published by Twelve on April 2, 2008 (ISBN: 0-446-19815-3; $22.99). For more information, or to arrange for an interview with Liza Donnelly, Roz Chast, or any other contributor, please contact Cary Goldstein, Director of Publicity, at 212-364-1266, cary.goldstein@hbgusa.com. 

About the Editor

Liza Donnelly has been a cartoonist for over twenty years. A contract cartoonist with the New Yorker, her work has also appeared in the New York Times, National Lampoon, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, and other publications, as well as regular features in American Photographer, Parenttime.com, Oxygen.com and TONEaudio.com. Liza edited several collections of cartoons for Ballantine and Andrews and McMeel, and wrote and illustrated a series of children’s books for Scholastic that sold over two million copies. Her previous book, Funny Ladies: The New Yorker’s Greatest Women Cartoonists and Their Cartoons (Prometheus Books, 2005), is a cultural history of women cartoonists and the New Yorker. Well-reviewed, it is widely considered indispensable for historians of the magazine and cartoon fans. In 2004, Liza wrote an essay for the New Yorker on cartoonist Helen Hokinson.  Liza is a participant in a traveling exhibition of international political cartoons called Cartooning For Peace, launched in 2006 at a forum at the United Nations. They continue to speak around the world, and Liza is working on a book about the initiative with Emory University and French cartoonist Plantu. She teaches courses on Cartoons in American Culture and Women and Humor at Vassar College. A native of Washington, DC, Liza currently lives in New York.