Does anyone Hudge a Book by it's cover?

[TheLazy]

I ask, because I do, kind of. If a see a cover that attracts my attention, then I'll read the blurb, and go from there. Now I can't be the only person that does this.

It works most of the time aswell, like about two months ago I bought Phillip Roth's The Plot Against America which I think is a a modern masterpiece, and regretably underated, but the only reason I bought it was because of its eye catching cover.

http://www.westminsterbookshop.co.uk/images/475/0099478560.jpg

Edit: **** I can't believe I typo'd the tittle.

[Buzz Dixon]

All the time, especially sci-fi novels. FRAZETTA: PAINTING WITH FIRE was on IFC this afternoon and they mentioned how Frazetta's covers were so good that publishers used to tell him, "Show us what you've got, we'll find a book to stick it on."

[Jonathan Bogart]

I'm curious about this hudging books thing. Sounds kinda dirty.

Here's a quote from one of my favorite current writers, historian and archivist Paul Collins, on the subject, from his excellent memoir(ish) Sixpence House:


There is an implicit code that customers rely on. If a book cover has raised, lettering, metallic lettering, or raised metallic lettering, then it is telling the reader: Hello. I am an easy-to-read work on espionage, romance, a celebrity, and/or murder. To readers who do not care for such things, this lettering tells them: Hello. I am crap. Such books can use only glossy paper for the jacket; Serious Books can use glossy finish was well, but it is only Serious Books that are allowed to use matte finish.

He actually spends three pages going over the presentational minutiae of the modern book market, because in the book he's having an anxiety attack about the cover of his own first book. It's hilarious.

[Aaron Kashtan]

I'm curious about this hudging books thing. Sounds kinda dirty.

Here's a quote from one of my favorite current writers, historian and archivist Paul Collins, on the subject, from his excellent memoir(ish) Sixpence House:


There is an implicit code that customers rely on. If a book cover has raised, lettering, metallic lettering, or raised metallic lettering, then it is telling the reader: Hello. I am an easy-to-read work on espionage, romance, a celebrity, and/or murder. To readers who do not care for such tings, this lettering tells them: Hello. I am crap. Such books can use only glossy paper for the jacket; Serious Books can use glossy finish was well, but it is only Serious Books that are allowed to use matte finish.

He actually spends three pages going over the presentational minutiae of the modern book market, because in the book he's having an anxiety attack about the cover of his own first book. It's hilarious.

That sounds like a rudimentary form of some of the points Gerard Genette made in Paratexts. That book is devoted to theorizing the significance of the things attached to books that aren't part of the text itself. Genette argues that things like covers, epigrams, title pages, prefaces, and titles actually condition and even control the way we read a book. As a basic example, when we see a book with a back-cover blurb by Piers Anthony, we realize that this is the kind of book Piers Anthony likes, and that knowledge may affect our decision whether or not to read the book. ;)

[Athena Bast]

When I see SF covers with big letters in graded colouring I immediately think the book reads like a bad drive-in movie.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Genette argues that things like covers, epigrams, title pages, prefaces, and titles actually condition and even control the way we read a book. As a basic example, when we see a book with a back-cover blurb by Piers Anthony, we realize that this is the kind of book Piers Anthony likes, and that knowledge may affect our decision whether or not to read the book. ;)
Man, I wish I had tenure so I could publish whole books proving theses that are blindingly obvious.

[Agent Helix]

I'd write my doctorate on "Wateriswetology".

[Sanagi]

I'm curious about this hudging books thing. Sounds kinda dirty.

Here's a quote from one of my favorite current writers, historian and archivist Paul Collins, on the subject, from his excellent memoir(ish) Sixpence House:


There is an implicit code that customers rely on. If a book cover has raised, lettering, metallic lettering, or raised metallic lettering, then it is telling the reader: Hello. I am an easy-to-read work on espionage, romance, a celebrity, and/or murder. To readers who do not care for such tings, this lettering tells them: Hello. I am crap. Such books can use only glossy paper for the jacket; Serious Books can use glossy finish was well, but it is only Serious Books that are allowed to use matte finish.

He actually spends three pages going over the presentational minutiae of the modern book market, because in the book he's having an anxiety attack about the cover of his own first book. It's hilarious.
Similar rule: Movies with holograms on the cover.

[saintsaucey]

I so do that. I bought Dennis Lehane's shutter island strictly for the cover. thankfully the book failed to disappoint