David Sipress, a dreamer and obsessive drawer living with his Upper West Side family in the age of JFK and Sputnik, goes hazy when it comes to the ceaselessly imparted lessons-on-life from his meticulous, secretive father and the angsty expectations of his migraine-prone mother. Sipress paints his hapless place in the family, from the time he is tricked by his unreliable older sister into rocketing his pet turtle out his twelfth-floor bedroom window, to the moment he walks away from a Harvard PhD program in Russian history to begin his life as a professional cartoonist. This poignant, compelling family story is also a meditation on creativity and the art of cartooning, and Sipress’s cartoons appear throughout WHAT’S SO FUNNY? with spot-on precision, inducing delightful Aha moments in answer to the perennial question aimed at cartoonists: Where do you get your ideas?

Praise & Reviews 

“It’s an endearingly vulnerable tale of being molded by one’s family of origin, then crawling out from under its suffocating weight...nothing quells his (Sipress’s) anxieties like coming up with the perfect combination of picture and text. “It’s a weird kind of sharing, to use that awful word, but it’s worked for me,” he writes. I have a feeling he’d hate the goopy word “storyteller” as well, but boy, he’s a good one.”
–New York Times

“An intimate and engaging memoir by an artist who understands that personal thoughts and feelings often lead to remarkable ideas. Recommended.”
–Library Journal

"An affectionate, introspective memoir from the acclaimed cartoonist...In crisp, clean, anecdotal prose, [Sipress] chronicles his life story, his mischievous cartooning, and the germination of his ideas, with many included for readers to appreciate...Throughout, he traverses the complex dilemma of cartooning amid family deaths and tragedies... This addictive, witty, David Sedaris–esque story is a hoot."
—Kirkus, ★ Starred Review

“New Yorker cartoonist Sipress... draws on his gift for evoking the predicaments of human nature to tell beguiling stories about his life and career...Weaving in his impeccable wit and wry cartoons, Sipress illustrates his relentless pursuit to produce work that “express[es] what everyone is thinking and feeling,” all while offering amusing insights into his creative process...The result is a delightful jaunt through an inspiring artist’s mind.”
–Publisher’s Weekly

"David Sipress's engaging, illuminating, and hilarious memoir will perhaps clarify what dark forces are at work when it comes to becoming a cartoonist rather than an a podiatrist, a billionaire tech mogul, or someone who is deeply into collecting owl figurines. And if it doesn't, you will love it anyway.”
—Roz Chast, author of Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?

​"David Sipress, one of the most brilliant cartoonists in the history of The New Yorker, has written a beautiful memoir, equally moving and hilarious. It’s like spending time with the funniest and kindest person you’ve ever met.”
—Andy Borowitz, New York Times bestselling author of The Borowitz Report

“Cartooning is a serious business, as David Sipress reminds in this engaging and frequently moving memoir. Sipress has not only crafted a winning self-portrait of the artist, he also writes about his complicated family life with deep affection and unsparing honesty. What’s So Funny? will make you laugh, and it will break your heart, and it comes with lots of Sipress’s cartoons too, which are worth the price of admission in and of themselves.”
—Tom Perrotta, author of Election and Little Children