A Changed Man: Hardcover vs. Paperback

When A Changed Man came out last year, I posted the jacket for the hardcover (on the right, above). I and the majority of readers who commented weren't so fond of it. I think "way too Photoshoppy" was my eloquent comment. ;-)

A brief description of the book will show you why the tattoo idea is being used:

Vincent Nolan, a disenchanted member of the neo-Nazi American Rights Movement, walks into the New York office of the World Brotherhood Watch, a human rights organization, and declares, "I want to help you guys save guys like me from becoming guys like me."

I like the new one a bunch. Does anyone *not* prefer this to the hardcover? If so, I would love to hear why.

Our Town

Marion, Indiana: birthplace of James Dean and Jim Davis (creator of Garfield), and "location for the last organized lynching in the American north."

The author, according to the reviewer, makes the following argument:

Carr asserts "that there can never be a real dialogue in this country between white people and black people until those of who us who are white begin to tell our terrible stories." And most white people "come from something," she writes: "slaveowners, Klansmen, dissemblers, dehumanizers, averters of eyes."

It's a great review (in the Village Voice) and I love the cover. It's restrained (this could have been done in a much more sensational way) and the rope is just ominous enough. Do we need a noose? I don't think so.

The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil: UK version

Reader Chris from the UK sent this in: it's the cover for the UK version of Saunder's great book. Here's the US version.

Thanks, Chris!

Some Fun: Stories and a Novella

OK. I'm not a big fan of short fiction, so I don't know who Antonya Nelson is. Apparently, though, she's quite good, as she's won a bunch of awards. How do I know this? BECAUSE MENTION OF THEM IS PLASTERED ALL OVER HER NEW BOOK.

I did a little checking (but not much, because life is short): Guggenheim Fellowship? Check. REA Award? Yep.

And this collection isn't by Antonya Nelson. It's by "Winner Antonya Nelson."

Someone please leave a comment and tell me this is a joke. Or that I'm missing some Po-Mo meta blah-blah-blah. Please tell me this.

Body Brokers

The title and subtitle of this book are pretty clear; is the bracelet overkill? (Seriously, I can't make up my mind.) And I guess there's a market for hands with gangrene? Yuk.

Game of Shadows

Like the conversation we had about the photo used on the cover of American Ally, this photo makes me think about the process of photo selection and, of course, book cover design.



That's admitted-steroid-user Jason Giambi next to Bonds. Guilt by association?

I find this cover interesting because it could have gone several ways. I sort of expected a photo of Bonds glaring into the camera -- something not flattering, as in this photo of Hillary Clinton used on The Truth About Hilary. I more than half-expected at least one syringe somewhere. And a cartoonishly huge Barry Bonds wouldn't have come as a shocker.

In the end, though, this looks like a sports book -- like a biography of Lance Armstrong or Michael Jordan or whomever. And I think there's virtue in the restraint of the design.

The Weight of Numbers

Gorgeous. I would love to see this with warmer colors -- yellow, or orange -- instead of the green. But that's just me, and I'm probably wrong. Via the book section at guardian.co.uk

Apex Hides the Hurt: A Novel

"The protagonist of Colson Whitehead's briskly existentialist third novel is a nomenclature consultant...The book's title comes from a bandage manufactured to color coordinate with pigments other than Caucasian." (VillageVoice.com)

I put this cover in the friggin' brilliant category.

The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre

I'm not a big fan of the old-timey cover, and this one doesn't change my mind. Does anyone else think this is just too cramped? Too much space given to the frame and matting is one of the bigger issues, I think.

Are You Happy?

One doesn't need to read the review to answer the question: "Um, no, not so much."