Life — August 2, 1929 — page 14: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon depicts a golf course designed as a magazine office layout, mocking rejected manuscript submissions. Each hazard represents an editorial department or rejection type: - **"Sliced," "Bunkered," "Sand-ed"** (top): Different rejection outcomes - **"Foot-Stance Editor," "Eye on the Ball Editor," "Head Down Editor"** (middle): Editorial positions with mixed metaphors - **"Sand Trap" and "Water Hazard"** (lower section): Obstacles representing rejections - **"Dictation"** (bottom left): Shows a writer being directed The joke equates submitting manuscripts to playing golf—both involve navigating hazards and repeated failures. Writers must traverse this treacherous "course" of editorial departments, facing rejection at every turn. The cartoon satirizes the difficulty of getting published and the numerous editorial gatekeepers writers must pass.