Can someone please explain to me why I like this cover? Cause I definitely like it, but I really can’t say Why.
Perhaps it’s because I saw it on the shelf, and it has such a presence. And not just a presence, but a Moody presence. The cover is genuinely grim. Or maybe it’s just the stark treatment with found art, which you really just don’t see very often.
Yeah, it works, and fits with the title story. I saw T.C. Boyle give a talk here in Boston. The title story is a little trite. It’s an interesting setup but overall it underwhelmed me, the parallels he draws in it are too blatantly obvious to the extent that a little kid could have thought them up (though perhaps not used them in such a way).
Anyways, that said, the cover ain’t bad. I think that little black bar on the bottom really pulls it all together.
Also, T.C. Boyle is full of himself and a total weener. Really tries to fill the role of artiste but with the material he comes up with, well, he should really just be happy he’s writing and ditch the ‘tude.
This cover works because it is a fantastic use of monochromatic contrast. The lion stands out nicely from the background and is complimented by the near black bar at the bottom; the grey background really highlights the lion and the bar. The white text pops nicely from the background as well and is the opposite of the other two elements giving it its own weight.
if the lion had been brown, the same effect could have been achieved with the use of earthtones.
I’m sorry to find this cover so dull, even boring; and not simply for the design being minimal.
The typography lacks integration, like some minor skirmish between fonts has been lazily joined. The colors are unappealingly mild-mannered, the artwork feels half-hearted in its usage (though not its execution) and the whole thing just vanishes before my very eyes like a particularly unmemorable daydream. When I first saw this in the bookstore, it was creating a virtual black hole for itself, surrounded as it was by covers so much more visually engaging. If the idea here was to create negative space in a world of visual stimuli, it succeeds with a great yawn.
oh… didn’t anyone see this before:
http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Perl-Programming-Simon-Cozens/dp/0596004567/sr=8-1/qid=1162959137/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-7546961-5742328?ie=UTF8&s=books
???
I have this book sitting on my bookshelf and love this design (still haven’t read the book- probably because of the douche-y photo of the author on the back cover). There’s also some red involved somewhere on the cover or inside flap that is a nice contrast to the muted front.
The red on the inside flap isn’t just used for contrast, it’s part of a common phrase that Alfred Lord Tennyson made famous in his poem “In Memoriam A.H.H.” from 1850. It’s a phrase used to describe the violence in nature. Don’t believe me? Check out the link.
Can someone please explain to me why I like this cover? Cause I definitely like it, but I really can’t say Why.
Perhaps it’s because I saw it on the shelf, and it has such a presence. And not just a presence, but a Moody presence. The cover is genuinely grim. Or maybe it’s just the stark treatment with found art, which you really just don’t see very often.
— Ben Pieratt, 2006-03-21 09:19:00
I think you found the word: stark. It’s always refreshing to see a design that isn’t so stuffed to the gills.
— Joe, 2006-03-21 09:28:00
Definitely fits Boyle’s style. He’s a nasty writer, doesn’t pull any punches.
— Eric J, 2006-03-21 16:33:00
I enjoy the retro feel the design portrays. Reminds me of the old Forest Ranger pamphlets.
Almost looks like something my Grandfather would have designed when he worked in the military.
— benjamin kinzer, 2006-03-23 10:09:00
Yeah, it works, and fits with the title story. I saw T.C. Boyle give a talk here in Boston. The title story is a little trite. It’s an interesting setup but overall it underwhelmed me, the parallels he draws in it are too blatantly obvious to the extent that a little kid could have thought them up (though perhaps not used them in such a way).
Anyways, that said, the cover ain’t bad. I think that little black bar on the bottom really pulls it all together.
Also, T.C. Boyle is full of himself and a total weener. Really tries to fill the role of artiste but with the material he comes up with, well, he should really just be happy he’s writing and ditch the ‘tude.
— jdube, 2006-05-25 17:57:00
This cover works because it is a fantastic use of monochromatic contrast. The lion stands out nicely from the background and is complimented by the near black bar at the bottom; the grey background really highlights the lion and the bar. The white text pops nicely from the background as well and is the opposite of the other two elements giving it its own weight.
if the lion had been brown, the same effect could have been achieved with the use of earthtones.
— Chris, 2006-07-21 14:37:00
chris the color expert
— john, 2006-10-19 12:08:00
I’m sorry to find this cover so dull, even boring; and not simply for the design being minimal.
The typography lacks integration, like some minor skirmish between fonts has been lazily joined. The colors are unappealingly mild-mannered, the artwork feels half-hearted in its usage (though not its execution) and the whole thing just vanishes before my very eyes like a particularly unmemorable daydream. When I first saw this in the bookstore, it was creating a virtual black hole for itself, surrounded as it was by covers so much more visually engaging. If the idea here was to create negative space in a world of visual stimuli, it succeeds with a great yawn.
— M. Kellner, 2006-11-06 12:32:00
oh… didn’t anyone see this before:
http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Perl-Programming-Simon-Cozens/dp/0596004567/sr=8-1/qid=1162959137/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-7546961-5742328?ie=UTF8&s=books
???
— rhwinter.com, 2006-11-07 20:13:00
^Oh snap!
— C-Dog, 2007-04-17 21:51:00
I believe this is by John Gall, not Paul Buckley.
— Jonas, 2007-04-30 13:25:00
for good or for bad, tis by me. -buckley
— paul buckley, 2007-05-31 08:46:00
Sorry, never mind. Good job, too.
— Jonas, 2007-06-10 19:43:00
I have this book sitting on my bookshelf and love this design (still haven’t read the book- probably because of the douche-y photo of the author on the back cover). There’s also some red involved somewhere on the cover or inside flap that is a nice contrast to the muted front.
— Neil M., 2008-02-19 10:40:00
The red on the inside flap isn’t just used for contrast, it’s part of a common phrase that Alfred Lord Tennyson made famous in his poem “In Memoriam A.H.H.” from 1850. It’s a phrase used to describe the violence in nature. Don’t believe me? Check out the link.
— Chris Manolatos, 2008-02-21 05:10:00