They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but publishers want you to do exactly that. With that in mind, I thought I’d offer quick impressions of various covers for James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room and what they seem to be selling (or not selling).
First comes the cover for my copy of the book. A large pitcher of water, a tea setting, a wicker chair. Really, this gives me no idea what the book is about. If anything, the image is misleading. Something about a life of leisure? Something about aristocracy? Is it set on some English estate in some place that ends in -shire? Neither David nor Giovanni is wealthy. In fact, the titular setting is tiny and messy. I’m not sure what the publisher had in mind with this cover. If anything, it’s the equivalent to a plastic-wrapped Playboy. Don’t let anyone know what the reader has chosen. Definitely don’t let on that it’s a gay book. Nothing about this cover begs me to buy the book. Had I not known Giovanni’s Room was considered a gay classic, I’d have passed.
Same for this one. Leaves on a branch? What?! There sure are a lot of leaves. Did the book describe a leafy tree? Did I miss that? Once again, this cover seems intended to cover up the book’s content. Let the subject matter be an unknown. Maybe I’d buy it—and perhaps be disappointed—if I were a botanist.
Okay, no doubt about this one. Very gay. I mean, Giovanni is shirtless! Both men appear good-looking. David has the right hair colour. If anything, the drawn figures seem a tad too old to represent the twenty-something characters. They look at least a decade older. I suppose there’s some sex appeal in this cover. I might be disappointed if I bought the book based on the cover. It didn’t come off as a sexy book to me. Especially when considering the ending.
This one’s a head scratcher. Strikes me as a mystery or crime novel. The (presumably) woman’s legs and high heels remind me of Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, but maybe that’s just me. Vague covers like this one encourage the viewer to make their own (wrong) conclusions. I suppose it gets at the love triangle between David, Giovanni and Hella. Really, I’d pass on this one unless I were a mystery reader, in which case I’d be very disappointed.
Another vague one. Hands reaching…in the rain? I’m starting to feel like I read the wrong book, as if someone pulled the switcheroo and stuck a different manuscript between my tea-setting cover.
Well, this one’s colourful. The problem is they’ve got the wrong colour for the hair. David is blond and Giovanni, an Italian, I presumed to have dark hair. Maybe he does in this portrait. Maybe that clump of red on his head is a bow. Why? I don’t know. Just weird. Would I buy the book. No. I’d shrug and move on.
What is this? Time for a Rorschach test? Centre right, I spy a partridge or some other bird. But, no, the entire cover is half a head. The “bird” is actually some guy’s nose. What’s with the colour choice? What’s with the half head in the first place? This tells me nothing. With this cover, I’d pass…even if it’s a classic by James F#%king Baldwin.
Confession. I’ve never been to Paris. For shame, for shame. (Do I at least get points for writing this post from Oslo?) I’m assuming this is Paris, the main setting of the novel. Give the artist points for not featuring the Eiffel Tower. But how many of us peruse bookshelves, thinking, “Hmm,…I’d like to read a story set in Paris. Any story. Just make it in Paris, dammit.” Not enough for me to reach for the book.
Another shirtless Giovanni in the background with David in the foreground. Same artist or did one steal the other’s layout? Surely, there would have been a tiff. I give the nod to this artist. The characters seem the right age on this cover. Assuming I don’t have any hangups over carrying around a GAY book, I might buy this one. More likely so if the back cover had a blurb with no illustrations. There are times I’d still flip the book so the back cover faces out. Yeah, I’m lame.
For this one, forget Paris. Forget David and Giovanni (who seems to have a habit of forgetting his shirt). Forget the love triangle and the fact that Simon and Garfield’s “Mrs. Robinson” is now my earworm of the day. Just go with James F#%king Baldwin. His book. His fame. This book isn’t some knockoff Giovanni’s Room about a pasta restaurant in Manhattan. This is the real deal classic by the celebrated author. The title and the author were the only things I knew about this book before I picked it up. Call it a cost-saving decision by a lazy publisher—no artist fees—but, yeah, if I didn’t have the tea set cover version, I’d probably buy this copy.
To be honest, I don’t think James Baldwin would quibble much over any of the covers. (Maybe still the tree branch edition.) All this cover coverage highlights the fact Giovanni’s Room has had multiple print runs. Isn’t that what every author (and his estate) wants?
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