Harlan Ellison

Just sort of ran across these while browsing at Amazon. Do I love them? Not sure, but I think I do. Are they incredibly atypical for the genre? Absolutely.

Death's Door

I don't often do this, but sometimes a cover seems so lacking to me while the illustration in the Book Review strikes me as so much better. The Times image is by Ray Bartkus.

Strivers Row

And here's another one (sorry, sometimes things just line up a certain way). Here's a brief description of the book:

"Kevin Baker plunges audaciously into the world of Harlem in the early 1940's to imagine the lives of two African-American men."

One of these men happens to be Malcolm Little, aka Malcolm X. So is it just me, or does the collage from the Times do a great job of evoking Harlem and black culture of the 1940s, while the book cover might simply be adequate?

The Times illustration is by Ed Lam; I think this is his stuff.

Eat Pray Love

Withholding judgment until I see this in person. Has anyone seen it?

A Piece of Cake

Hmmm. A memoir about a bad life turned good. Sex, abuse, drug use. And candy sprinkles on the cover. Now where have I seen something like this before?

I'm not sure who should bear the brunt for this. My money is on the marketing department, which apparently thinks that Frey-type memoir + sprinkles = big sales, dood! Yikes.

A Little Perspective...

In the March/April issue of CommArts, there is a review of By Its Cover: Modern American Book Cover Design, a book that many of you probably already own (alas, I don't). But here's a quote from the review that I love:

"I'd always tell myself, 'You're not the star of the show. The author took three-and-a-half years to write the goddamn thing and the publisher is spending a fortune on it, so just back off.'"

This from Paul Bacon, jazz album cover designer extraordinaire and designer of over 6,500 ( !!!!!!!! ) book jackets.

U.S.!

"Bachelder supposes that muckraker Upton Sinclair, author of The Jungle, has the power to repeatedly rise from the grave, "oft-resurrected and oft-assassinated" by his followers and foes. A haggard and bullet-ridden Sinclair symbolizes the bedraggled American political left." (via Village Voice)

And yes, that does seem to be a young Upton Sinclair in the photo; if so, that's friggin' brilliant, IMO.

I Like Both of These, But...

I like both of these, particularly the first one, which is by Joe Montgomery. But here's a question to think about:

Are there too many covers like these? The cover for Send Me *really* jumps out at me. I want to know more: why these images, why the scribble over the man's face. I guess what I'm really saying is that the vertical image-on-top-of-image is overdone, but that it's great to see such a design that works.

Re the second: I like it less, but still like it, even though the technique is almost as familiar as that of the first. If you like this jpg, you'll surely like the cover in the store; it, too, is a "jumper."

So: does anyone else look at these, think they're good or even great, but have a slight moment of doubt because you've "seen it before?" Or do you realize that there's only so much you can do in a 6" x 9" space, and only so much that a marketing department will let you get away with, and look at these and say "I've seen something like that before, but wow, this is great!"

OK, I'll shut up now.

The Bill From My Father

I've got $5 that says you will either love this or hate this.

So which one is it?

Staring at Sound

I was *SO* looking forward to seeing what this cover would look like. Let me get on my music soapbox for a minute and say that if you haven't been to a Flaming Lips show, you really really need to go. Even if you fill your ears with putty and don't hear a thing, the Lips are a sight to behold. Hence my disappointment with this cover. One of the most visually interesting bands I've ever seen in my life deserve something better than this merely serviceable cover.

(BTW: Jim DeRogatis is a pretty fantastic writer, and his "Let It Blurt" is a great read.)