Book Cover Reviews
The Eiger Sanction (first edition hardback) by Trevanian- The cover of this book is one of my personal all time favorites. It’s got that classic late-60’s/early 70’s pulp spy thriller novel design style. It was probably originally a screen print. In the background is a hard-edge mountain rendered in hot pink transposed against an all-white cover. In the foreground is a badass in snow-gear aiming a 45 off to right off the reader. The badass is rendered entirely in dark blue.
Gremlins (first edition paperback) by George Gipe, Screenplay by Chris Columbus- This book cover is essentially just like the poster for the movie “Gremlins”. It’s got little mogwai hands opening up a box with holes poked in the top. It’s alright.
Air Guitar (first edition full-sized paperback) by Dave Hickey- This is not only one of my favorite book covers it’s also one of my favorite books. It’s kind of an art criticism book but not really. The cover is a gold colored Gibson Explorer model guitar flying out in shimmy shimmery outer space, complete with motion tracers. Get it?
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (1991 paperback edition)- It seems like for such a good book that the good people at Little Brown Books could have spent just a little more than a fraction of a second thinking up this incredibly terrible book cover. Its all white, the title and author centered with a nice Helvetica or whatever, but then for some reason they decided to add a silly stripy rainbow diagonal in the left-hand corner. I’m not sure what they meant to imply. Probably not what you think.
The Hottest State (first edition hardback) by Ethan Hawke- I bet most of you didn’t know that actor Ethan Hawke had written a novel. Well, I didn’t read it but I did read the cover notes and look at the cover for a while. I don’t know what this book is about but the cover looks pretty nice. It’s a simple watercolor painting of a big green heart dripping with green over-watered watercolor marks with a small red spot accenting the lower edge and also dripping red (y’know, blood). Superimposed on top of this are Ethan’s name and the title in stark thin Impact all on a white background. The cover is also printed on a nice textured paper, like watercolor paper.
Invisible Man (cliff’s notes edition) by Ralph Ellison- Really all Cliff’s Notes covers are the same. This one just happens to be on Reeds bookshelf. I don’t understand why they have the yellow and black tripe motif with the bonsai tree. Like a street sign or something.
Good Night Moon by - This is a good cover also. All the colors are darkened using a tad of black so it seems a little hazy and comforting, at the same time a little eerie. The inside of a bedroom in the fashion a child might think of items in a bedroom on rendered slightly better than a child could draw. A bed, A rug, a cat, a fireplace, a rocking chair, a window, a picture on the wall of rabbits.
10/2003