The Story of My Baldness

The treatment of the title reminds me too much of Barbara Kruger. But I do love the description of the author, from Amazon:

"Van Der Jagt is a pseudonym; the book's real author is Arnon Grunberg, a prolific young Dutch author whose talent is matched—or possibly exceeded—by his desire to provoke the Dutch literary establishment. Submitted under the false name, the book won the Anton Wachter prize for a debut novel; the honor was revoked when it was discovered that Grunberg, who won the same prize for his bestseller Blue Mondays, was the author."

Stick it to the man!

American Ally

It's the picture that makes this cover worth talking about. Why *this* image? Why a photo from behind? Obviously the word "Ally" in the title is accentuated by the photo; Bush has his arm around Blair's shoulder, and it looks like he's guiding him -- or even consoling him. Is there something about this photo -- as opposed to one shot from the front -- that makes the substance/subject of this book harder to judge?

Ivan's War

I really like the typeface in the title. It just seems perfect for a book about Russia in the 30s and 40s.

A Temple of Texts

I like this image. I don't like the treatment of the title. Some might think that the boxy title complements the other shapes in the photograph; I think it takes away from the power of the image. But what do *you* think?

A Brief History of the Dead

This really works for me. While I don't like where "A Novel" is placed, I don't care. This really grabs me.

World As Laboratory

Does this strike anyone else as being either 1) too busy or 2) too textbook-y?

One of Mine

We look at other's work here. Here's one of mine (just a portfolio piece). Would love to hear comments / constructive criticism.

It's also over at Foreword, if you would like to comment there / read what others are saying.

(Sorry for the bad compression; click on the image to get a better view).

Company

"Barry's primary target is corporate dehumanization."

You're Wearing That?

An assumption: based on the title and subtitle of this book, one of the things that mothers and daughters fight about is clothing, particularly what risque / age innapropriate clothing. But I've seen nuns dressed sexier than what this illustration suggests...

Eat the Document

A brief synopsis of the book: "The heroine of Dana Spiotta's stunning new novel is a Vietnam-era radical who has gone underground after a bombing plot that's gone awry." Hence the 70s feel of this. Have to say, though, that Cooper Black always makes me think of the Beach Boys and of nothing else.

(And while most of you have probably seen this, learn about Cooper Black.