Book Cover Superstars: Jeff Clark & Katy Homans

As we open the book on the new year, it is advisable to assess the table of contents and surmise which cover might be most appropriate for the 2006 volume. Perhaps a Dantaean circle of hell, closest to the depths? A dirigible capsizing in the air, smoke plumes streaming behind? One would be hard pressed to decide on a perfect vision of negation, futility, and perversion-- unless of course you had a fine year, all traumatic aspects of life considered. Choosing the designer would be far easier:
to my mind, the two best designers (choosing between them would be difficult, I now realize) are Quemadura (a.k.a. Jeff Clark), who does the lion's share of work for Flood Editions, a premier poetry imprint (www.floodeditions.com),and Katy Homans, who does the majestic fronts for the New York Review of Books Classics series (www.nybooks.com/nyrb/). Each artist has led me to betray my purse and judge books with the superficial criterion of their sheen, skin, face. Not once have I been disappointed by the contents, outside or in.

Curley