Wednesday, 1 February 2012

Big Hair

[Sorry about the long gap between posts: among other things, I managed to injure myself while putting in a new hot water system, and my wife managed to injure herself while cooking, so it's been Uncoordinated Self-Inflicted Iinjury Fortnight at our place.]

I've never read George Pelecanos--he's one of those writers I keep heariung great things about, but have never got around to. However, now seems a good time to start: his UK publisher, Orion, is doing a three-version launch of his most recent book, What It Was, which is probably a test in how to make money in the new digital publishing world. They're simultaneously doing an ultra-cheap ebook, a normal paperback, and a fancy-pants (but not over-expensive) hardcover. And it has worked on me, since I've now ordered the hardcover.

The novel is set in 1972, and the book has a full-on blaxsploitation look. I can find no info on the designer anywhere, sadly. Here's the hardcover:




And the paperback:



Both are much more interesting than the US edition:

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8 comments:

  1. Ian Koviak1 February 2012 at 15:21

    that's great. I like these versions of his other book—scroll down in the comments: http://palimpsest.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=121585

    those are really fun. You don't see that type of stuff too often.

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  2. JRSM1 February 2012 at 15:37

    Wow, I really like those, and haven't seen them before. Nice, fun, eye-grabby work.

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  3. eViL pOp TaRt1 February 2012 at 15:41

    Really great graphics!

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  4. capillya1 February 2012 at 16:44

    Love the paperback. And as a girl with big hair, it's actually a pretty honest portrayal of how much crap can get stuck in your hair.

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  5. JRSM1 February 2012 at 17:07

    It must be a right bugger when you're combing it out at night and Cadillacs and mirrorballs are thumping out :)

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  6. Ian Koviak1 February 2012 at 22:07

    Totally..

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  7. Óscar Palmer3 February 2012 at 01:12

    Reagan Arthur has the same three-version launch strategy in the US, but the art for the slipcased special edition is different. You can take a look here: https://twitter.com/#!/EsPopEdiciones/status/164336328698368000/photo/1
    The design is credited to Keith Hayes with illustrations by Philip E. Pascuzzo.
    I quite like them both.

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  8. JRSM3 February 2012 at 02:25

    Oscar, thank you--I didn't know about those. The slipcase is really nice. Would buying the US _and_ the UK versions be excessive? Hmmm...

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