Keeping up with the Jobses is a struggle for the publishing industry, this we know. This fall, three new releases coming to a bookstore near you are sounding a battle cry for the antiquarian hardcover book. The twist? Their cover designs are imprinted directly on the board binding the book, meaning no fussy dust jacket and heightened tactile pleasure. (Tactile not currently available in the iPhone apps store.)
So why the sudden confluence of jacketless hardbacks? The New York Observer credits the influence of McSweeney’s Quarterly, Dave Eggers’s brainchild that has produced a dizzying array of arty journals over the years, often sans coat. Eli Horowitz, who in addition to making a killer fish stew is Managing Editor at McSweeney’s, opines on the legacy of books as singular and permanent objects:
“To some extent, it comes down to the question of what purpose the book is designed for: to be sold in a store, or to be a part of a reader’s life. Even well-designed jackets often feel like advertisements, not actual parts of the object.” He added: “Jackets carry all the design, but they feel disposable and often are disposable, the first part of a book to get torn or creased or trampled.”
Hear, hear! And we’re all about judging books on their covers, so see what you think of these:
The Adderall Diaries by Stephen Elliott (Graywolf); No Impact Man by Colin Beavan (Giroux).
Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne (Viking); and aha! The missing link: Byrne’s 2006 arty book Arboretum, published by none other than McSweeney’s.
Any others we missed? Tell us in the comments.
Comments (7)
I think THE MANUAL OF DETECTION, by Jedediah Berry is printed like this. Lovely cover.
I don't like dust jackets. Take them all off. Slowly.
….I like how they make this sound like it's something new. This is how book covers were printed for AGES> I have a whole shelf full of old books with quality beautiful tactile covers on them.
Not that I"m not happy they're coming back…but it's not a "OMIGOD YAY!" it's a "really? about freaking time they got on that again."
Those covers are very classic. Personally I don't like the jackets on hardcover books, it just don't feel right at all.
I have long thought books should come out in paperback, then if they sell well, in a fully designed, beautiful, collector’s edition hardcover. So many times I’ve wanted to buy a book but didn’t want to pay the hardcover price, and then I waited so long for the paperback I lost interest.
Don’t forget the new Penguin Classics designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith!
I always take off a book jacket when reading it, and the usually get thrown out or lost. Then again, I also take off my pants when reading a book. It only seems fair.
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