Copycat Covers

Embers by Sandor Marai


All for Love by Dan Jacobson







The Sweetest Dream by Doris Lessing


Lovers or Something Like It by Florian Zeller



I read Embers because the author is Hungarian and so is my husband. I own a copy and it is a gorgeous cover. It's a portrait of Countess de Keller by Alexandre Cabanel, 1873, in the Musee d'Orsay, Paris. I've actually seen a third book using this cover but I can't remember where.

I read half of The Sweetest Dream while traveling and never finished it when I got home because it got lost in the shuffle. My cover is very bland and even darker than it appears here. You'd think a Nobel author would warrant something nicer than that. But then we're told that authors often have no say in their covers. And why such horridly small print on the Zeller book? Their only attempt at a little colour and it's unreadable.

It occurred to me while posting that these last two may not be the same cover but they do take several shots of things and can fiddle with the photos to make them look slightly different. I can't imagine two separate photo sessions coming up with the same shot setup. What say ye?

More copycat covers: here, here, and here.

Cover Attraction

Hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page who says:

"I love beautiful, or interesting, cover art so every Wednesday I post my Cover Attraction for the week along with a synopsis of the book. Everyone is welcome to stop by and post a link to their favorite weekly book cover."

This week's edition is about copycat covers.


The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (2008)

The Practice of Perfection by Mary Frances Coady (2009)

I loved The Secret Scripture and I love the cover. I love the second cover too. But Barry's book is so well know since winning the Costa Prize only a year before Coady's book was published, that I wouldn't want the same cover on my collection of linked short stories if I were this Canadian author. What say ye?
______________________________________
And then there's no cover:

The Waves by Virginia Woolf

I ordered this title from Amazon and this is what they sent me. I'm supposed to make my own cover!? I'm too old and too old fashioned for this monkey business. Now I have to read a book, a classic no less, with no image in my head, no sense of the story-none. Obviously I hit the button to order what they are calling a "My Penguin". On the back of the book is a boxed space to fill in "Cover by:" for your own name. Then this silliness: "What's on your cover? Send your masterpiece to gallery.com.uk and we'll put up a selection of designs for book covers everywhere to enjoy." I don't own a camera and I can't draw. I feel like I've been robbed. Anyone know about this? When did it start? Do you like the idea?

Copy Cat Covers

Hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page who says

"I love beautiful, or interesting, cover art so every Wednesday I post my Cover Attraction for the week along with a synopsis of the book. Everyone is welcome to stop by and post a link to their favorite weekly book cover."

This Week's Cover Attraction is actually copy cat covers I came across:

I acquired The Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther (UK/Iran 2007) recently via Bookmooch, then saw I Sweep the Sun off Rooftops by Hanan Al-Shaykh (Lebanon 1998) while browsing The London Review of Books online bookshop. I can't imagine why the original book went with such a washed out look. It's a book of short stories about women and their lives in various places of the Arab world. The half hidden face and a head scarf that shows little hair and yet emphasizes the curves of the face are very suggestive I thought. But the soft green and gold of the scarf, and the colours of the face restored in the second cover are even lovelier on the book itself than in this picture. Both stories sounds interesting though and I look forward to reading them.

What book cover caught your eye this week?

Copycat Covers

Hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

This is my first Cover Attraction post so I'm taking a small liberty and showing a copy cat cover. I had The Waiting Time by Sara Banerji (Transita 2007) on my desk after receiving it through Bookmooch when I saw a review of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie (Anchor 2002). This is the first time I've ever remembered a copy cat cover and the book's title.

I'm partial to little red shoes as I used to dress my baby sisters in them when I was a girl. I have yet to read the books. I'm guessing they must be good.

Have you found any outstanding book covers this week?