4.2.11

Where the teenage Wild Things secretly are



My great friend Amber Lundy Leigh sent me these fantastic covers this morning. I have seen both of them recently, so feel it is fortuitous that we can bond over great book covers. The first is a novel I'm sure we all recognise and have read during our angry adolescent period. Then, hopefully later, been re-read with the hindsight of this time, thus revealing the heavy ironic slant that veers across Holden and his entertainingly agitated decisions.

The latter is a collection of short stories by Dave Eggers (who, incidentally, co-wrote the screenplay for the film of Where The Wild Things Are, based on the Maurice Sendak children's picture book. He then went on to publish a full-length novel inspired by the story, entitled, imaginatively, The Wild Things.) I love the way the entire format of the cover is integrated into the design, instead of being formed awkwardly by the illustration and the typography jostling for your attention while not leaving enough space for either. And its reminiscent of so many antiquated images (I'm thinking of those Victorian surgery diagrams one sees in old surgical theatres or medical museums) while remaining stylised and original in its own right.

I can't find anything on either of the illustrators, so, if you know who they are, drop me a line.

1 comment:

  1. The 'How We Are Hungry' illustrator is Daniel Chang. (I just read it on the back in case you were thinking that I had that information stored in my brain)

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