Book covers that disturb us

The content of a book is supposed to be more important than its cover, right? That's the idea, though some authors consider their covers works of art worth big bucks on their own, and there's no end to contests rating book cover designs.

Our Astral Weeks columnist, Ed Park, couldn't get over the creepiness of the cover for a collection of Miles J. Breuer's fiction in his last column. Here it is.

"Such a stomach-turning cover will pretty much insure that few readers pick up this book," Park wrote.

I'm not sure I agree. That image is pretty bizarre, but that seems like a competitive advantage, doesn't it, especially if that book is sitting among a hundred others on a table in a bookstore? Who wouldn't be drawn to those eyeballs?

Park writes about being thoroughly creeped-out by this image, but I didn't share that chill.

And then came along Richard Rayner's Paperback Writers column for the following week. Then I knew exactly what Park was talking about. Rayner wrote about reissues of two novels by Australian Nobel laureate Patrick White — "Voss" and "The Vivisector," from Penguin Classics. The cover of "Voss" is straight-ahead, simple, bleak. "The Vivisector" is something else entirely. You can look at that cover after the jump — if you're brave enough.

In the meantime, what book cover illustrations disturb you?

— Nick Owchar

"The Vivisector" cover is right after this jump.

Comments

[Joseph Sullivan]

Both of these make me think Chip Kidd's approach in designing Geek Love is probably a better way to go with disturbing material.

[Lisa]

The point of the cover is to draw attention to the book. Both of these would certainly catch a person's eye. Then you've got to be able to get the person to pick up the book. These might do exactly the opposite for some people, particularly "Vivisection." I assume the cover to tell me something about the tone of the book--neither of these would tell me that I want to read this book even if they have made me notice the book.

[Rob]

In 2008 Penguin Australia launched a line of 50 classics in Penguin's original livery of two orange bands above and below a white band where the title and author were in plain black type.

They sold like gangbusters in part because the simplicty of the "Popular Penguins" stood out in the visual cacophony of modern books stores.

[Tim Barrus]

Two abusive and exploitive and HORRIBLE book covers. Joyce Carol Oates has veto power over her covers so where WAS she.