When Book Covers Wax Poetic

They say don't judge a book by its cover. But when you're window shopping at bookstores, it can be hard to believe them (whoever they are). Book covers are marketing, pure and simple. The ideal cover matches thematic content with a sharp selling point--but like titles, sometimes sales outweigh the "art" of it. Fine by me; as long as good books sell, I don't care how their covers look.

Unless the covers are boring. Public-domain classics are the worst offenders. Have you looked for a Moby Dick you can be proud of? I searched the Harvard Coop for a good cover, but the whole batch looked unoriginal, so unfailingly historical. (Art department: "Let's go outside the box. We'll draw--wait for it--a whale.") Herman Melville is soporific enough on his own. Where's the adventure?

From the odd indie press to giant publisher Penguin: Call them Ish-fail.

But Penguin Classics has a trick up its sleeve, the Deluxe Editions. Welcome to a world of deckled edges, French flaps, and provocative cover art. They range from Jane Austen to Thomas Pynchon in style and age. They're appealing, whimsical, and often humorous. Hey, look--color! But I also wonder if the designers have ever read the books. What do you think about these?

1. Candide: Voltaire meets the comics store! Calling X-Men fans--there's a French satire with your name on it.


2. Ethan Frome: Edith Wharton might purse her lips at the title, embossed in red letters like a Harlequin paperback. The lovers look caught in the spell of winter romance--but read the book and you'll realize a much different outcome is in store.

3. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: The most puzzling. Why is Huck walking underwater? Is this a reference to Mario Puzo (sleeping with the fishes)? The credit to Mr. Mark Twain is a clever in-joke, though.

4. The Scarlet Letter: Nathaniel Hawthorne's original subtitle was A Trip to Hot Topic.

5. Pride and Prejudice: You know, I like this one. It's a Jane Austen for those of us with Dickensian aspirations. Though it looks like the man is named Pride and the woman Prejudice. Cruel parents they had.

6. Wuthering Heights: Or, Wuthering Catherine, who hasn't eaten a meal in weeks. What's the phallic tower behind her? Is Heathcliff's home now at Mordor?

Penguin even carted out a Deluxe Edition of Moby Dick full of color, energy, and violence. And also a whale jumping over a ship. I'm pretty sure that happens in chapter thirty-one, right? Chalk it up to whimsy.