Saturday, July 4, 2009

book covers

I'm not sure what it is exactly that grinds my gears so much, but I truly detest book covers.

I just read a post by Seth and it seemed to have got me thinking. So here are a few thoughts.

Let me back up. First of all, I only hate them when I'm reading the book. Here some example of when I truly love and depend desperately on the book cover:

While I'm shopping for a specific book title, I typically have the title and author stored in the back of my mind, but I scan for the image of the cover. Kind of like I'm matching a finger print. If the cover wasn't a part of the package, I'd be wandering around the bookstore for hours -- and if it were Strand, it'd be days.

If I'm looking at a new book on the shelf, I'm notorious for only looking at it if it's graphically pleasing. That is to say, I'm a whore for bright colors and odd arrangements of type. Most political books bore me before I even open the cover.

When I've finished a book, and place it back on my shelf, the book cover needs to be there. It just has to be. The sense of accomplishment or my knowledgeable existence is undermined if the object I place back on the shelf is not whole or complete. The book turns into 300 pages of insight and entertainment, to 300 pages of false hope and wasted time.

All that being said, it's imperative for me to point out that book covers (or jackets as they're often called by middle school librarians) are not to be kept on during the reading process.

They slide up and down, thereby distracting the reader from the contents of the book.

They capture whatever your hands have been touching throughout the day -- and in New York, the last thing I want on my pure white book cover is subway grime and the coughs of NY Independent Elders, as I call them. (As a side note, I'd like to point out that I try my best to stay away from both of the aforementioned items on my trek back and forth from work . . . just to clear my name.)

They are not bookmarks. The flaps of a book cover should not be used as bookmarks -- a post-it note folded in half fulfills the function much better and more appropriately than flaps that were created to grip desperately to the edges of a hardcover book.

Obviously, this is a touchy topic for me.

I'd just like to point out that I do not judge other people for their use (or misuse, rather) of book covers -- they are free to use it however they please. After all, they bought it with their own money -- who the hell am I to dictate how-to instructions for their $13.95 purchase.

Thanks, Seth, for your post. And thank you, everyone -- your patience is much appreciated.

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