Lousy Book Covers

I once wrote something akin to the following, on this blog:

The good news is that everyone can now publish what they write.
The bad news is that everyone can now publish what they write.

So, when I came across a website deliciously and bluntly titled, Lousy Book Covers – whose “about” section reads: “Just because you CAN design your own book cover doesn’t mean you SHOULD” – I knew I’d found a kindred spirit, of sorts.

I’ve argued more than once that bad art can often be much more interesting (or at least more entertaining) than good art. Want proof? Two words: Ecce Homo . As far as the book biz goes, the LBC collection of spectacularly puzzling visual concepts/covers certainly drives the point home.

What can you really say about the cover of Mutation, by Suzanne Morrison, where a faceless woman is trying to shoot a strand of DNA? Definitely click on the image to expand it. Personally, I’m speechless.

Or about the cover of Lumberjack in Love by Penny Watson, above? So much wrong but yet so right. I particularly like the chipmunk on the lower left. Such attention to detail. And it’s really a tossup as to what’s truly better…the title or the cover.

Or even A Funny Thing Happened When We Took Back America! by Susan Gregersen, on this page. The caption reads: “There is nothing wrong with this cover. Nothing at all. And I swear I’ve never been a member of the Communist Party.”

I could go on and on, but why spoil your fun? I suggest you go on this perplexing voyage of discovery yourself.

And make sure not to miss Spending Christmas with a Yeti, by Max W. Miller. Although, as the site’s creator states, once you do see it, you may wish you could “unsee” it.