Caustic Cover Critic Considers Canongate Canons

Another repackaging-of-classics exercise is the imminent set of 12 (though I can only find 11) 'Canons' from Scottish publisher Canongate. They look rather nice: I like the use of white space, and the way that the cover image in every case is almost but not quite obliterated, leaving just enough visible to make it clear what you're looking at. It's especially effective given the nature of the books chosen--there's nothing much in common there other than the publisher, but this group identity works for all of them, I think.

The Spark Collected Sories was actually also announced as a forthcoming Penguin Modern Classic this year, but has quietly vanished from the Penguin line-up. I wonder what conversation took place when somebody suddenly realised that they didn't actually have the rights...

By the way, I need to say that I miss the old Canongate Classics: a huge variety of great Scottish literary works that have mostly gone out of print now that Canongate seem focused on international fiction. I guess they were a money-loser, but it's always a shame when neglected-then-resurrected books that deserve to be read end up becoming neglected again (see also most of what used to be available as Virago Modern Classics).

Adults versus Young Adults

Scottish publisher Canongate has recently launched an unsual line: they're having a number of their adult novels and story collections republished by noted children's book publisher Walker Books. The books themselves are the same, but the covers are done quite differently to appeal to a young adult readership.

Here are the first four in the series, with the YA Walker covers on the left and the current Canongate editions on the right.(Click for bigger versions.)

Looking at these, it's interesting to note that only the Kelly Link actually looks especially YA-oriented (to me, at least).What they all have in common are eye-catching slabs of colour. What do you think?

UPDATE: Patrick Insole, art director at Walker, added these useful remarks in the comments: "As the art director for the Walker editions of these books, I thought I might be able to shed a little light on the thinking behind these. I think there is often a perception that YA editions of books should somehow look 'younger' than their adult counterparts however, as Brian notes, there is nothing inherently 'adult' about the Canongate covers. Our brief was simply to create something completely different to the originals, rather than worry about making them consciously younger in tone. One interesting note is that the YA cover for Pretty Monsters, designed by the brilliant Will Staehle, is actually a reworking of a rough he did for the adult edition, which he also designed..."

Casual Optimist on Scott-Heron

I just saw these covers over at The Casual Optimist, and I love them. They're by Stuart Bache for Canongate's reissues of two of Gil Scott-Heron's novels from the 1970s. I must get these! Go to The Casual Optimist for an interview with Bache.

I'm not the world's biggest Scott-Heron fan (otherwise I would have already read these, I suppose), but he's been on my mind since the release of his first album for 16 years, I'm New Here. Scott-Heron himself seems not to have been as involved as he might in its creation, but one track in particular has wormed its way into my brain. If you want to hear the authentic voice of a man who recognises that he has comprehensively fucked up his life, here you go: