New Ecco paperback covers (July 2014) and new collections (July 2015)

[hoochmonkey9]

props to Abel. he will do Bukowski purists proud.

but back to the new covers.... I don't care what they look like. do I like them? not really, but I've seen worse (not for Bukowski, but other writers I like).

the neon shtick plays into the opening credits of Barfly, so in that respect it's fitting. and smack me upside the head, but I didn't love every one of Barbara Martin's designs. she had some misses.

if some 20 year old is attracted by the hipster covers, so be it. at least he's reading Bukowski. he can leave the Chuck Palahniuk on the shelf.

I don't know why I always seem to pick on Palahniuk.

 

[Bukfan]

i just meant whether Abel was able to provide any production insights...

he typed, not holding his breath...

I know! It was just a play on words. I just wanted to say Abel is'nt the worst choice now that his name was being mentioned. That's all. It was no reflection on your words play joke.

 

[jordan]

the neon covers are a huge improvement over those shitty cartoon ones they did. at least it goes back to being simple and trying to evoke a mood or feeling rather than second-rate cartoons depicting things that happen in the book. plus, neon signs are a critical part of LA's identity, to the point that there's a museum dedicated to preserving them. it's 100% fitting to use that motif.

it's easy to hate on any new bukowski book design because a) it isn't barbara martin's original design and b) it represents the mainstream trying to interpret bukowski's work, which will always be a failure in the eyes of the die hard fans. if you look at book design overall, though, these covers pretty good. they are laid out well, they're bold, and they don't try to sell his work as something it isn't. plus, they don't look like every other book on the shelf, which was my main frustration with the cartoon covers.

 

[mjp]

they don't look like every other book on the shelf, which was my main frustration with the cartoon covers.

I think the whole purpose of putting a new cover on an old book is to make it look current, which then makes it look like every other book on the shelf.

I'm sure a lot of people picked up Black Sparrow books in the first place because they didn't look like everything else on the shelf, even back in the 70s and 80s. A relevant detail that eludes a big corporation like HarperCollins because they aren't in the creativity business. They are all about shifting units, baby!

The covers don't matter much in the scheme of things. If they are going to throw away the original design, I don't really care what they replace it with. I still think this is the best Bukowski cover ever, and you could say it follows certain modern design trends that are probably overplayed:

 

[jordan]

best bukowski cover? i'm partial to ham on rye and love is a dog from hell (for bsp) or the city lights books with the hideous close-ups (for everyone else). in general, i'm a fan of the really simple, direct grove press aesthetic from the 70s. new directions had kind of the same look as well, although their books were only black and white, and i like grove's color palette. those city lights books are like a dirtier, grimier version of that aesthetic, which is why i like them.

those neon books look patricularly current to me. admittedly, i don't follow current trends in book design or anything, but i'm happy to see a move away from "text over image," which has been en vogue for what seems like forever now.

 

[Joseph K]

Not a fan of the new covers but also not a fan of the BSP originals, Ham on Rye excepted. I don't think I've seen any Buk covers that really do the books justice. Any suggestions for the best Buk cover published to date?

 

[zobraks]

Any suggestions for the best Buk cover published to date?

Maybe this one (?) :

:acb:

 

[skiroomalum]

I still love the BSP Hollywood. Partially because that was my first Buk purchase in 89. Also think Dangling is very cool. The neon bugs the shit out of me. Reminds me of paperback covers from the 70's, especially The Wanderers. Whatever, they are still better than that Factotum "tie-in" piece of shit. Worst cover hands-down (other than any Jimmy Buffet book, of course).

 

[David]

This one is cool, but I'm prejudiced...

 

[jordan]

All the David Calonne books look nice, actually. Wine Stained Notebook is probably my favorite.

Edit: I originally spelled it Conlonne. WTF?

 

[mjp]

But is it art?

 

[David]

Above now out in Deutschland



a few days ago Roni tells me and Absence due out next June, in Fischer Klassik.

 

[David]

And finally, Sunlight Here I Am

due out from Feltrinelli in Italy next month:

and More Notes of A Dirty Old Man from Grasset in Paris, but don't know which of these two covers will prevail: I don't like the idea of a Pulp imitation however...

 

[jordan]

that font on the first one is so wrong for bukowski. the second one wins on that basis alone.

 

[cirerita]

Can't say much at this point, but the books are happening. The first one, which is already done, should be out sometime this year.

 

[Rekrab]

Ugliest covers ever. Thematic collections is a mistake. But no Martin editing is great news. Will it be enough to make me want to own these books?

 

[roni]

there are a very few people who'd be able to do thematic Buk-books in a proper way. cire is definitely one.

btw.:
what will the themes be?

 

[Rekrab]

there are a very few people who'd be able to do thematic Buk-books in a proper way. cire is definitely one. [...]

I wonder whose idea that was. Saying it's a bad choice is not a knock on him. It just seems like not the best way to organize previously unpublished material.

 

[d gray]

Ugliest covers ever.

"in house" graphic design can be a dangerous thing.

they could do an open call for artists to submit designs and choose one.

but then someone "in house" would have to choose it.

 

[mjp]

I wonder whose idea that was.

Not Abel's.

 

[Rekrab]

Thanks for revealing that, mjp. He'll do a good job of it even if it's not the best approach.

 

[roni]

[...] what will the themes be?

may I *bump* my above question?

 

[mjp]

Writing, drinking, "love," and one more to be determined.

I'm not getting that from any direct source though, so they could all be wrong. They make sense though, if you're going to force Bukowski poems into thematic collections.

Which is still a mistake (despite the recent thematic collection from our own Hosh), but in the scheme of Bukowski-related mistakes in the past 16 or 17 years, it's not the worst one that's been made.

The important thing is the integrity of the work, and I'm confident that Abel wouldn't compromise that.

 

[roni]

[...] the integrity of the work, and I'm confident that Abel wouldn't compromise that.

I'm glad you can state this despite ... things ... between you both.

You do know (and He does) that I always felt terribly sad when two of the most important and honest Buk-researchers in the world fell apart like that.
(I'm not saying this to try to get your forces together again. Just stating how very miserable I feel about such a loss of ... well ... what we once had.)

 

[mjp]

As far as research is concerned, you do him a disservice to mention us in the same breath. I'm just an opinionated punk with a website.

The only time I ever set foot in a college is when one of my bands was playing a gig. I leave the academics to the academians. I have enough trouble just remaining upright and remembering to pay the landlord every month.

 

[roni]

[...] college [...] academics [...]

that's why I've avoided to use the term 'scholar'.
The word 'researcher' captures it and applies for the both of your.

(of course his efforts to track down primary sources have been uncomparably bigger. Still both of you are - and this is what I was talking about - important to unearth and spread new information about our man.)

 

[Ponder]

Hello ecco!

Will be out march, 2014.

 

[cirerita]

Can't say much at this point, but the books are happening. The first one, which is already done, should be out sometime this year.

The new books have been pushed back. Not my call, obviously. The first ones will come out in 2015. If everything goes according to plan, the first collection will be on writing. Good news is, the book on writing will have previously unpublished correspondence only.

 

[roni]

so, this is one bad news and one good news. Should I feel good now or bad?

(anyway, thanks for the heads-up, cire.)

 

[Purple Stickpin]

While I was hoping for a collection of poems, I much prefer the concept of unpublished correspondence about writing to that of poems about writing.