Pulitzer prize winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon is, actually, amazing. That’s beside the present point (but worth mentioning anyway). The “Amazing Website of Kavalier and Clay” documents some of this book’s many amanzing and not-so-amazing covers.
Print Magazine recently featured an article called “Cover Girls” about Young Adult Novel makeovers for each new generation of YA readers. Of course the re-design of YA novels makes lots of sense, since that age group is swiftly changing and very focused on cool. But why does Kavalier & Clay need to be redesigned dozens of times in the last mere eight years?
The book of course needed a redesign after it won The Pulitzer Prize, and books often get makeovers when they’re released in other countries or by different companies. The covers below were supposedly both published in 2001, but the one to the left was printed here in the USA and the one to the right in the UK. The left version has a more fun-romp, comic-book appeal, while the one at right, also well-designed, is much starker and more serious.
I don’t know if this fun/serious difference is noted in most UK/USA releases, but just look at the USA (left) and UK (middle) Harry Potter covers. Though both are clear children’s books, the American version is flashier and more cartoony. Also, checkout the UK “adult” version (right) — it looks one step away from a Harlequin Romance novel….
Though I agree that the meat of the book is much more important than the two cardboardy pieces that hold it all together, I will go $1 and three half.com searches above and beyond just to get the well-designed, well-thought-out, non-grocery-store version of the book I want.
Which version of Kavalier & Clay would you want?
2 Responses for "The Amazing Covers of Kavalier & Clay"
I like the one on the left with the empire state building. Kind of combines a comic book feel with the look of a more classic book.
Agreed
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