The Road, Everyman, etc.

If it weren't for Pynchon's Against the Day, I would have to say that Cormac McCarthy's The Road is likely the most anticipated novel of the year. Check out this glowing Village Voice review, which calls it "near perfect" and asserts "it may be the saddest, most haunting book he's ever written, or that you'll ever read."

It's hard not to notice the similarities between this book's jacket and that of Everyman. And for me, it's hard not to think that these designs aren't, for lack of a better word, respectful. Here are two hugely important writers who are not getting any younger (both were born in 1933); if anyone deserves to be known by their names alone at this point in their careers, it's them.

What the Dormouse Said

This is one of the better examples of rethinking a cover I've seen in a long time. I think the hardcover (top) pretty much nails it -- the type and pixelated peace symbol are perfect, and the green and black say "old CRT monitor" very clearly. Perhaps the peace symbol was thought to be a little too abstract to equal "counterculture" (I don't necessarily believe that); hence the redesign for the paperback (bottom). For me, the biggest change isn't using the flower and the mouse -- it's moving away from the monitor imagery.

Which one do you like?

Jamesland

I'll leave it up to you to read this review to find out about the deer on both the HC (top) and PB (bottom). But if someone's read this and can tell us if the folded stationary means anything, please do.

The New Confessions

Lots of the Vintage International covers are really great; this is one of my favorites. The novel concerns "John James Todd, forgotten hero of the cinematic avant-garde of the 1920s and 1930s," and the illustration looks exactly right for that period.

Willful Creatures (paperback)

I was on the fence about this one:



But then I remembered how much I (and others) disliked the hardcover and I started to feel better about the paperback. Here's the hardcover:

Murder in Amsterdam

I'm far from a fan of this kind of design, but thank you, thank you for not putting a weapon or some such thing on the cover. (Both Van Gogh and his assailant were riding bicycles).

The Subway Chronicles

Put this one in the "a blind man could have seen this one coming" category. What's suprising to me is that it really says nothing about New York -- the little medallion of skyline hardly does it.

New Harry Crews Book

Crews' novella, the first thing he's published in 8 years, is not exactly getting great reviews. And the cover looks pretty dreadful (regardless of the quality of the scan):


That said, I'm a big Crews fan. A Childhood: The Biography of a Place is probably my favorite memoir, and A Feast of Snakes simply kicks ass. If you've not yet read any Crews, I would start with those. And here's a great NY Times article about him.

The Bloodless Revolution

I often feature the UK and US versions of the same book, but I've never noticed such a difference in marketing as exists with this book.

The first image is the UK jacket. Check out the subtitle and the image: the whole "East meets West" theme of this book comes through pretty clearly, doesn't it?

Now the US version: The subtitle is completely different, referring to "a cultural history" instead of explicitly naming India and radical vegetarians. And is that a picture of Adam & Eve on the US cover? (Yes, I see Ghandi too, but...)

Why, smart reader, are there such differences between these? Are such differences necessary to sell this book in these different markets?

LBJ

A biography of the only president who used to (proudly, by all accounts) relieve himself in the White House Garden should be bold as all hell. Thankfully, it is: