Just looks

In my previous post I mentioned how to 1) Keep activity on this blog going and 2)not become one of those bloggers with umpteen blogs with only one they actually update, I am turning part of the FOP into a book blog. So, I read something, and then snark about it. I mean if I am never going to actually get a book published then I should do the next best thing and critique other ones! Just like a real reviewer.

This post, however, is about book covers. While we know not to judge a book by its cover, it still needs to be eyecatching. Books are only cool when bound in leather AFTER they have become big. If I ever become a successful published author with multiple works then I would like for them to have similar appearances. Hence, each of my works would have some cover continuity.

Here is an example by a recently discovered and newly favorite author of mine, John Krakauer.




I appreciate the strak dualities in these covers. Krakauer always writes about people living on the edge. By edge, I don't mean gnarly extreme sports, but a man abandoning everything to live in the Alaskan wilderness, religious fanatics murdering in the desert, or people trying to touch the sky on Everest. I think his covers help reinforce the ides in his book. The cover picture is the place where it happened and the white is everywhere else, the safe society. The white space is boring and familiar. This offers some safety from the excitement and danger of the pictured location. The duality reinforces the haunting situations he describes. Into the Wild will become a movie in 2007 so those of you who don't want to read it can wait till then to see what I am talking about.

I also have soft spot for covers of the Vintage Contemporaries trade paperbacks of certain select contemporary articles. This publishing run took place mostly during the late 80's and early 90's and the covers show it. Just look at them.

The sheer clean-cut geometry of it and stark contrasts remind me a lot of those old Sega Master game covers. I think it might have been a reaction to the sheer garishness of the neon splatter most people think about when they hear "80's." But I am no art historian. They just remind me of the time.

VC keeps publishing books and their coves are always nice. Sometimes when I am in a book store and have some money to burn (not very often) I often just scan for interesting covers. Give it a try! Peace!