If you’re like me, then you probably choose your friends and your enemies based on how they present themselves, e.g. their clothing, hair, bright orange Crocs, etc. This method of discernment, commonly called “judging a book by its cover” can be very useful in the construction and maintenance of ones own close-mindedness. You can also use it to choose (or avoid) a restaurant, a movie to rent, or even (gasp!) a book to read!
Michael Chabon’s new book of essays Maps and Legends has a neat cover and is great, if you have the patience for non-fiction. In general, most McSweeny’s publications have some sort of gimmicky design that I am really a sucker for, e.g. a book jacket that turns into an over-sized poster, that doubles as a parachute, etc. If you’re into book cover design, make sure to checkout the Book covers blog, which is dedicated to just that.
There is a long history of this sort of thing, from illuminated manuscripts, to the inside covers of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, to the work of Chris Ware, that I don’t know anything about, but I can’t think of a more mentally and visually stimulating thing to spend time researching (yah).
And here are a few books taken from the cannon of great white male literature that have zany little embedded surprises. They’re great to look at and even better to read.
Ulysses by James Joyce (never read this one, but I’ve heard some good things)
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Egger
Tags: comics, english, graphic novels, jacket design, literature, modernism, post modernism, reading









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One Comment
No wonder we get along so well! We’re both such hunks!