The Old Coot dislikes book jackets.
By Merlin Lessler
Book Jackets? Boo! – Awful things -taken off immediately by
me. Made for the bookshelf – to make the book look good. Take it off and the
cover is naked, plain, no words, no pictures, just the title and author on the
edge.
As I write this, I’m reading a book put together by the
daughter of David McCullogh – a collection of his speeches, tributes, essays
and interviews. David was a famous and gifted (hard working) historian who died
in 2023.
The book I’m reading, “History Matters, has a plain cover
under the jacket like the rest of them, but the inside cover, front and back,
are far from plain. Each contains a watercolor painted by David. He was a
top-notch artist in addition to being an important writer and historian.
What a wonderful surprise, perfectly placed. So different
from the dull outside cover. Publishers take little pride in their product’s
exterior, and leave the art work to a cover designer, probably now an A/I
computer program. I bet the editor cringed when McCullogh’s daughter insisted
on including his two watercolors.
I should put my money where my mouth is and strip the
jackets off the books in my personal, modest library. I’m going to try it on
one shelf as soon as I finish this essay and see what I see. It will be what a
doctor sees when examining a patient, down to their bare essentials. A position
most of us find uncomfortable. We can’t wait to get back into our “jackets.”
Comments? Send to – mlessler7@gmail.com
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