The Clothing of Books

How do we judge a book cover? Are book covers like the clothing that we choose to wear? What do they say about us? And what is it like to have your clothing selected for you? These are the questions at the heart of this thoughtful meditation on the art of the book jacket, from acclaimed, bestselling author Jhumpa Lahiri. Exploring her relationship with covers--both as a writer and as a reader--Lahiri probes the complex relationship between text and image, author and designer, art and commerce. From her lasting affection for the specific editions of classic works she read in college to the shock of seeing one of her own jackets unfaithfully adorning a different book, Lahiri analyzes what jackets mean to her, what happens when they don't seem right, and how, sometimes, 'the covers become a part of me, and I identify with them.'