Have you read “Let the Great World Spin?” It’s so beautiful. It makes me so happy. I haven’t read it — but the cover is so great, I can look at it for much longer than I can look at any of the other books I’ve bought but never read.
It’s got this two-tone color scheme, this off-white eggshell background with reddish orange type and very fine line-art illustrations. You can really get lost in this novel’s cover. The illustration on the cover wraps around to the back side, detailing this adorably stylized depiction of New York City. Sometimes, just before I go to bed, I pick up this novel and the cover just takes me away. I think about what it would be like to live in that tiny city.
You know what’s so subtle about this novel’s cover that you almost miss? The little man! There’s a little stick figure of a man walking a tightrope between two towers. It’s right between two lines of type in the title. And the little stick figure is in black! Everything else is red! How did I miss him? He’s a treat.
The book is very popular. I have the trade paperback edition, which has “New York Times Bestseller” across the top. Don’t worry, it’s very tasteful. It’s like it has to say it, but it doesn’t want to brag.
And the book is so good, too, apparently. The golden “National Book Award” seal on it lets me know that it’s not just pretty. It’s smart. Or it has heart. Or both!
Just to prove that it has both - check it out, it’s got reviews from both Frank McCourt and Dave Eggers. Now, I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging here, but I’ve listened to an audio recording from one of these guys and actually read one book from the other and… trust me. Between them, they have smart and heart covered.
There’s one blurb review though that I particularly enjoy on the back cover, “Brilliant… a reminder to look up— and to look into one another’s eyes.” — NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE
Isn’t that great? This book’s cover has such a profound effect on me. It forces me to really reconnect with my fellow man. The environs around me are not just background noise to my own narrative. Every man, woman and child I pass by has their own narrative, their own completely beautiful, precious struggles. And now, I’m reminded how connected we really are.
I don’t want to sound like an idiot here, but I’ve been known to cry when looking at this book cover. It’s not a tear jerker, but I’m just that guy. I get really choked up at beautiful things. So, trust me, if you’re looking at book covers, you can do no better than “Let the Great World Spin.”
