Book Covers I Have... Found Interesting

Due to technical difficulties, the already-delayed cover post will be delayed even further. Until then, I want to talk about something I noticed while book shopping.

If you're a woman of a particular socioeconomic background, you might have noticed that a little movie called Julie and Julia came out over the summer. Sure, it didn't make bank the way Transformers 2 did, but it had decent legs, a lower overhead and at least 100% less Shia LaBoeuf. It had hardback copies of Mastering The Art of French Cooking selling like hot brioche and people - often mother-daughter combos - lining up for tickets.

The critical response was pretty harsh on the Julie side of the equation. They found her whiny and narcissistic, which made me feel bad for Julie Powell. Sure, she's guilty as charged, but so would anyone be if you compared them to Julia Child. And, unlike many of us, Powell brings some self-deprecation and occasionally witty writing to the modern condition of chronic navel gazing.

Now she's got another book out, all about how she learned to be a butcher while... cheating on her husband, last seen being canonized as the saintly eater and cleaner of the earlier book. Speaking of moms and movies, you should have seen my Mom's face fall when, after we had just finished taking a screening in, I told her what Powell's latest book was all about. And while the butchery might sound suitably Child-esque, let's just say that some S&M and rough sex makes it in. I don't think that was ever a chapter in Mastering The Art of French Cooking.

So, how do you sell a book that trades in the cheerful self-fulfillment of the first, successful book for something much darker? Let's see:Wait a minute, that looks curiously familiar:Okay, so it's more of a similar colour scheme thing, but don't tell me there isn't a resemblence. Check it: the fleur-de-lys motif of the cookbook and the hearts at the corner of the memoir. I guess the answer is "Make it look as similar to what inspired the first book as possible, and just hope that people get really confused."

An interesting thing to note though. The styling of Powell's book is more self-consciously retro than the older cookbook. Maybe that's to provide a visual cue that the monogamous, heterosexual couple will be comfortably repaired to 50s sitcom perfection, a conclusion the book apparently avoids.