A personal look at cover design—and a reflection on the complex relationship between authors and publishers, the materiality of the book, and literary identity.

Foreword by Carla Faesler.

What do authors think about the covers of their books? Is there an “ideal” cover? Lahiri proposes to examine in detail the ideas surrounding cover design: how important they are today—and how the same book can lead to different editorial visions depending on the country or language in which it is published.

“The cover is superficial, insignificant, and irrelevant to the book. The cover is a vital part of the book. We must accept the fact that these two sentences are true. [...] The purpose of the cover is now more complicated. Today it serves to identify the book, to fit it into a style or a genre. To beautify it, to make it more effective in the window of a bookstore. To intrigue the passerby and attract him into the store so that he picks it up and buys it. "As soon as a book has its cover, it takes on a new personality. It therefore expresses something, even before it is read — in the same way that clothes communicate something about us before we speak." —Jhumpa Lahiri