The 10 Worst Book Covers Ever
At SoBadSoGood.com.
I rather like the ships one. I love Tarzan looking amorously at his monkey. (And what color is your vagina?)
This link comes via Nancy Rommelmann, who has a brand new book out, Transportation: Stories.
From Amazon:
Description of the contents: Short stories by the author of THE BAD MOTHER and THE QUEENS OF MONTAGUE STREET"Nancy Rommelmann's startling stories are as compelling as they are unsettling. The worlds she creates are recognizable but also completely and wonderfully unfamiliar. She writes close to the body, and we are made to feel each uncanny detail. Transportation is a fascinating, fierce, and original collection of stories." --Dana Spiotta, author of Stone Arabia
"The Penetrator" complete with pornstache. I'm laughing so hard I'm crying.
Although I have to say, "The Big Coloring Book of Vaginas?" That's kind of a one-crayon job, isn't it?
I see so many email shares in my future...
Daghain at January 22, 2013 11:06 PM
There's one rule to remember when dealing with ships: the bigger ship always has the right of way.
I R A Darth Aggie at January 23, 2013 5:58 AM
Leftism ties itself in a knot.
Cousin Dave at January 23, 2013 6:40 AM
- Life does get difficult when you have an evil twin growing out of your head.
- Uh, just who was the target market for that big coloring book?
- Schroeder would be aghast.
Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy at GMail dot com) at January 23, 2013 7:38 AM
Double Penetrator, even. Two stories squeezed into one book.
Vaginas come in many colors, and some come in multiple colors. However, unless one is illustrating disease, I'd think about three crayons would do the trick.
The Jingoist (formerly Boldly Beth) at January 23, 2013 7:43 AM
Actually, I don't see the problem with most of these. It is pretty obvious that most come from a different time.
Artistic styles were different. Back when comics cost 10 cents, the Tarzan picture was the current style.
The topics of social hysteria were also different. I suspect the reason the piano book made the list is because the boy is sitting on the man's lap. Before the current hysteria about child abuse, kids sat on adults' laps. There was nothing wrong with it; in fact, it is a pretty practical way to assist a small kid. Heck, there's nothing wrong with it today, if you could only shut the hysterics off.
I grant you, a coloring book about vaginas is pretty weird...
a_random_guy at January 23, 2013 11:05 AM
"There's one rule to remember when dealing with ships: the bigger ship always has the right of way."
Maybe that's what they left out of the first edition.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at January 23, 2013 11:58 AM
"Vaginas come in many colors, and some come in multiple colors."
That's actually a bit more than I wanted to know, crayons or no crayons...
Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy at GMail dot com) at January 23, 2013 1:35 PM
You need several colors, especially depending on whether it comes hardwood, shag, or a deep pile.
Jim P. at January 23, 2013 8:14 PM
Actually, I don't see the problem with most of these. It is pretty obvious that most come from a different time.
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Ditto.
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The topics of social hysteria were also different. I suspect the reason the piano book made the list is because the boy is sitting on the man's lap. Before the current hysteria about child abuse, kids sat on adults' laps. There was nothing wrong with it; in fact, it is a pretty practical way to assist a small kid. Heck, there's nothing wrong with it today, if you could only shut the hysterics off.
Posted by: a_random_guy at January 23, 2013 11:05 AM
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Yeah, except the kid looks at least ten. How necessary is lap-sitting by then? A lot of kids that age - most? - don't need phone books, either, when at the dining table at someone else's house.
It reminds me of this:
http://www.heavy.com/comedy/2010/12/the-20-worst-childrens-book-covers/
One that caught my eye was the 1937 "Baby Island," by the author of "Caddie Woodlawn." (The cover is from 1993.) I'm guessing they wouldn't have picked it had the cover been from a different edition - I admit that ship in distress would be quite alarming to many kids, with no adults in sight. (Other covers that I know of just show everyone happily settled on the island.)
As an adult, of course, I see quite clearly how unrealistic it is to imagine that two preteen girls could ever care for FOUR babies for months at a time! Or enjoy it after three days, even if they'd been back home, in a house, with all the needed amenities - such as soap and all the clothes they needed!
(Not to mention REALLY unbelievable scenes such as when the girls leave all four babies asleep(?) in the rowboat on the beach so they can search for shelter - well out of earshot. It wasn't just that two of the babies were old enough to climb, AND the tide was coming in - babies are never to be left alone, doctors say. Presumably because you never know when they might start choking in their sleep, so you always have to be just a few steps away. The eerie thing is, I remember a similar scene with a sleeping baby left alone in a houseboat that catches fire in "The Railway Children" - but both books were written pre-WWII, so I suppose parents and doctors have become less fatalistic and more vigilant in the last sixty years, and you can't blame them for that.)
lenona at January 24, 2013 11:45 AM
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