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Judging books by their covers,
First off, thanks very much to everyone who helped make the first round of reviews such a success. I’m very grateful for the help. I realized I did myself a disservice by beginning a monthly feature by launching something in the middle of the month. As I was scrambling to get the reviews together so that I could rightfully call the second batch an August edition, it was rapidly becoming the end of the month, and then where would I be? Exactly. So I took a little leeway and saved the reviews for a proper publication date for a monthly feature, which is, of course, the beginning of the month. And here you have it. If there’s a connection between the reviews this month, it’s branding. In one way or another, publishers seem to be trying to brand their authors. As a graphic designer, I love creating logos. A good logo is like a Shakespearean sonnet: tightly packed, full of rhythm and meaning, and perhaps a little twist at the end. As a reader, however, I can’t stand the idea of a writer being a brand. Call me hypocritical and/or naive. I know the publishing business is just that: a business. But I want to believe that publishers view their authors as more than a logo to put on a bookstore table. I want to believe that publishers think more highly of their customers than they appear to, pandering as they do with garish colors, printed-on book-club and award seals, and embossed lettering. I want to, I really do. One of my mottos is if you’re going to complain, at least try to be funny about it. I hope you’ll feel I’ve lived up to that motto, ’cause there sure is some complaining to be done this month. Next month: a fair and balanced look at the oeuvre of Al Franken, plus some really nice covers, and probably a few other things, knowing me. Finally, a plea for help: it’s getting more and more difficult to find good-quality scans of recent releases online, and I’m not inclined to buy every book I want to review. If you work at a bookstore, library, or major publisher, or if you’re a compulsive book-buyer, or if you’re a kleptomaniac who specializes in bookstores, and if you have access to a decent scanner (or if you work at a bookstore in San Francisco or the east bay and want to lend me books so I can scan them), please contact me. You will be rewarded in some way. OK, that’s it. Enjoy the reviews.
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