The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories

There’s an interesting discussion in which John Gall defends this cover over at that other book blog, Foreword.

Personally, I think anyone who doesn’t see the brilliance of this design is on crack.

— , 2005-10-18 15:15:00 -0400

If you’re a fan of any one of the writers listed on the cover, that name will pop out at you. That’s a helluva trick. +1

— Eric J , 2005-10-18 15:23:00 -0400

great cover! I wonder if the size of the box has any dependence on how long there short story is? I also wonder why Deborah Eisenberg’s name is split between to colors, Did she write two stories?

— Eric Durr , 2006-01-08 01:11:00 -0500

Is this technically a book cover, though? Isn’t it more like a compilation of multiple book covers, all of which are basically little blocks of covers? I’m wondering if this even belongs in this list.

— Paul Santos , 2006-01-11 08:49:00 -0500

Paul,
You’re looking at it all wrong. It’s ONE book, and therefore ONE book cover. I don’t see how the number of colors could possibly effect the so-called qualifications for this book to be on this list. Unless the book cover actually is a picture of more than one book cover, in which case you might have a point. Can anyone back me up on this one?

— , 2006-01-16 02:45:00 -0500

To reply to Eric: The size of the boxes seems to correspond with how relatively well known the author’s are—and how hip they are right now among the general reader (not necessarily the “alternative” fiction reader). Which strikes me as a good marketing strategy, though somewhat undemocratic.

— , 2006-03-28 14:59:00 -0500

I like the concept I dont like all the busyness that all the authors bring…maybe if their weight was lighter it wouldnt be so crowded feeling

— , 2006-07-25 08:27:00 -0400

Busy it certainly is.

I appriciate the cleverness and riskyness of the design even if I don’t fall in love with it.

— C-Dog , 2007-05-09 16:36:00 -0400

I really like the concept but i´d love to test it with different colours and and a different font.

— , 2008-12-08 11:25:00 -0500

I love it just how it is

— Anonymous Coward , 2008-12-29 05:22:26 -0500

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— red pepper , 2010-01-28 10:12:07 -0500