We don’t usually associate the words Publishers Weekly with scandal, but the cover of their December 14 issue is currently making the rounds on the Internets and it’s causing just that. The biggest confusion seems to be over whether the image above is real. Unfortunately, it is. What do you think of it? Offensive? A bad marketing? Dated? While we love a good pun, this just seems in poor taste. Or maybe there’s something we’re missing here? (Find the cover story here.)
We’ve reached out to the publication’s art director, Clive Chiu, for the back story on the cover design. Weigh in with your own comments below.
Comments (9)
Um, I don’t get it. The controversy, I mean. I’m Black – I think it’s awesome. Unexpected, arty, hip, creative, gets your attention… what’s the problem?
Kind of funny. I don’t find it in bad taste. Maybe a marketing snafu, though.
No, I don’t get it either. Have no idea what might be offensive about that image.
i think its clever
It’s black power fists. I think it’s pretty far from offensive..
The image doesn’t bother me as much as the fact that books are marketed differently to African American people and authors are set apart by race and race only. Think about it. It’s the last bastion of segregation.
If you’re black and an author (especially a midlist one), unless you’re quite special, you don’t get marketed to the Other Folks, only your own kind. It’s as if the Other Folks couldn’t be possibly interested in what we have to say–unless we are an exception to the rule.
Why are we so different, we need our own books and our own bookshelves–indeed our very own section of publishing? I thought the human experience as expressed through books and writing was universal.
As usual, there are those that make a life out of being offended at everything. Sad that they have so little else to ocupy their interests that they must sink to this, but that’s the way it is.
If we eliminated everything that even slightly offended anyone, this would be a boring world. Anything interesting is liable to offend someone. Personally, I do not think this cover is offensive, but we all have our opinions
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