Judging books by their covers

Everyone says it, in fact I usually hear it at least once a week:

"Don't judge a book by its cover."

Good, sound advice, right? I mean, this very principle is what racial equality is all based on. It doesn't matter what you look like... what matter sis what's inside. Black, white, asian... we're all the same, right? Regardless of our "covers"? Similarly, this statementr also refers to our comeliness. If you're absolutely kathy-gorgeous, it doesn't mean you're a dumb ditz. Just as if you're the fugliest horseface in the world, it doesn't mean you're smart either.

Yes, this cliche is a venerable one, loaded with truths so fundamental that to ignore it is to show your ignorance.

The thing is...

When it comes to books...

I...

Wait for it...

I...

Completely ignore it.

Yes, I, Mr. Appearances Don't Count for Shit, buy books based on their covers.

Sometimes.

"Heathen!" one would say. "Philistine!" Others would agree. But to hell with that. Some of the best books I ever read were based on their cover illustrations. Granted, I made some terrible mistakes as well, but that's life. I take those awful books, read them, then trash them. But the treasures I find… I treasure them forever. Take a look at these:

1. A Trip to the Stars – This book, by Nicholas Christopher, is currently one of my favorite books of all time… maybe even my ABSOLUTE favorite. I won’t go into the details of the story here, but trust me when I say it is near flawless. I bought it at a second hand bookstore in NYC for $5 on a whim based on, not the summary in the back, but on the cover. Of course I read the summary a bit, but I’ve learned long ago that those can be even more deceiving than covers. So I looked at the cover itself and figured.... Must be good. Pretty, ain’t it?



2. Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Chabon - Yes, it was a Pulitzer prize winner. Yes it’s about comics. Yes, I know Chabon’s a good writer. But when it came out, it was so overhyped that I decided… shit, forget it… (I have hype-o-phobia by the way). And so I blithely went about my business, hearing great things about the book and studiously ignoring it. It didn’t help that the cover art of the version in powerbooks was godawful. But then I went to Australia one Christmas and this caught my eye:



And I fell for it.

Simple, striking, dynamic… this picture completely washed away my hyp-o-phobia, and I snapped the book up like it was the last blueberry pancake in the world.

And now…

Now I re-read the book once a month.

3. Forever by Pete Hamill – I picked this up on the same trip that netted me Trip to the Stars. I had heard nothing about this book… no hype, no drama, no publicized tours… so of course I got interested. But what drew me to it? First of all, it was about NY, the greatest city in the world. Second of all… yup, you guessed it:

The cover:



So there you have it. If I wanted to list all the books I ever bought due to their covers and then subsequently grew to love, Blogger would probably explode.

I am not a racist; I believe Asians are just as great as whites and blacks, and whatever. I believe that beauty is skin deep, and, as Batman cringingly says, “It’s what I do that defines me”.

But with books…

Judge away, baby.