Infinite Jest (10th anniversary edition)
A redesign of what is either the greatest book of the last decade or the best paperweight, depending on with whom you speak.
Much better than the previous US paperback:
An interesting decision to put "Only $10" on the cover. I'm thinking that you're the kind of person who reads Wallace or you don't.
6 comments:
"I'm thinking you're the kind of person who reads Wallace or you don't."
Yes, and the former people have already read him. But then there are those people who think they aren't those kind of people but might become them if they gave Wallace a try and who pay more attention to the price of the book than the author's name.
"...pay more attention to the price of the book..."
James, you're probably right, but then I have to ask this: Wouldn't it have been sorta cool to really push this idea ("this idea" = discover a new author for $10) in the design itself? I have no idea what that would look like.
I think the cover should be one long footnote. (I actually read the whole thing, minus the last bunch of footnotes.) The essence of the book seems to be addiction, but i don't know how you capture that.
I like the bottom cover alot more.
I bought the paperback when it first came out (has it really been 10 years?) and I still haven't managed to read it.
I believe the decision to put the price on the cover was due to this being a special 10th anniversary edition with a special price. I think when this book reprints it will go back to the original paperback price. It's marketing.
Regarding the design, I too have a preference for this cover over the previous, and over the original hard cover jacket. I like how the forced perspective on the type emphasizes infinity, and that they kept the blue to reference not only the original covers, but the original reference--Alcoholics Anonymous's big blue book.
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