31 songs, nick hornby: penguin.

[designed by gray318]

_couldn’t think of any other cover to post today since i’m listening to lonely avenue (nick hornby and ben folds’ music project) in a loop the whole day.

In Hornby’s 2002 Songbook [published in UK as 31 Songs], a collection of 30 essays about pop songs published to benefit children’s charities in the US and the UK, Hornby ruminated on Folds’ “Smoke” . (…) The essay was ostensibly about the painstaking craft of creating the effortless-seeming pop song, of which Hornby considers Folds a master, but, like most of the essays in the book, it addressed so much more. Hornby called “Smoke” “one of the cleverest, wisest songs about the death of a relationship that I know” and, he admitted, he turned to it regularly as his own marriage unraveled. | Michael Hill

anna karenina, leo tolstoy: penguin.

[designed by FUEL]

this is where i leave you, jonathan tropper: plume/penguin.

special topics in calamity physics, marisha pessl: viking/penguin.

[designed by paul buckley]

you only live twice, ian fleming: penguin.

[illustrated by michael gillette]

_interviews with michael gillette about his work for penguin’s james bond collection here and here.

the man with the golden gun, ian fleming: penguin.

[illustrated by michael gillette]

The Fleming estate was insistent that there was no overt nudity, no nipples for sure. This is why they are mostly backs. I slipped a few sides and a full frontal in there too. I thought it’d make them display better. | M.G

octopussy, ian fleming: penguin.

[illustrated by michael gillette]

The directive was to keep them filmic – they obviously reference the classic 60s/70s cinematic Bond rather than the 50’s literary Bond. I’m aware that there is quite a difference. The films are foremost in people’s perceptions of Bond, so it’s understandable that Penguin would want something that will bring filmgoers to the books. | M.G

the spy who loved me, ian fleming, penguin.

[illustrated by michael gillette]

I think that Penguin wanted to tap into the giant audience that watches the films but has had no interest thus far in the literature. The mandate was always to keep them in the tradition of the films rather than the fiction. | M.G

casino royale, ian fleming: penguin.

[illustrated by michael gillette]

_tematic week coming ahead, starring james bond collection from penguin uk. (credits from michael gillette’s quotes at the end of the week, otherwise you’ll see the covers all at once ;)

I got a call from Jon Grey, a designer that I knew socially from my time in London. He told me the general idea for the project – typography on naked ladies’ backs, hard to say “no” to that! It’s an iconic job, so I was very glad to be asked, quite an honour. | M.G

thérèse raquin, émile zola: penguin.

iron, potassium, nickel, primo levi: penguin.

[designed by jim friedman]

_obvious but daring.

the catcher in the rye, j.d. salinger: penguin.

_it was a strict requirement from j.d. salinger that his books covers could only include the title, his name, and nothing else. that’s why the brazillian version is so lame. that’s also why this penguin version is so beautiful.

otherwise pandemonium, nick hornby: penguin.

[designed by jamie keenan]

backlands: the canudos campaign [os sertões], euclides da cunha: penguin.

_this is the first brazilian title to be published at penguin classics.