Gentry Reader: The best book covers of all time

A book with a great cover gives you everything you could want, a perfect coming together of art and design. Gentry shed light on some of the finer efforts… the best book covers of all time.

Of course you should judge a book by its cover. Sure, appearances can be deceiving. But they shouldn’t be. The way a thing looks should give you a pretty good idea of what that thing is about. In an ideal world an attractive person should be witty, intelligent and the soul of a destitute French poet. Unfortunately, that’s not always true.

But every now and again the universe manages to align itself perfectly. And on occasion the intrinsic quality of a thing manages to shine from without. There are a few book covers out there – enduring design classics – that offer a perfect window into the fulcrum of its subject. A tiumph of the shallow or a glimpse at the way life should be. Honest, meaningful and (is there an opposite to disappointing…) oh, yes, fulfilling. The best book covers of all time must offer this sense of explicit satisfaction.

And it is so important. Who can be bothered to read an entire back cover blurb or trust the always exaggerated advance praise that the publishers have somehow blackmailed any one of Salman Rushdie, Robert McCrum or (turns up everywhere) Jonathan Franzen to part with. In the world of cover quotes everything is “exhilarating”, “enthralling”, or “a book that defines our age” and every author “the voice of a generation” or “a beguiling mix of Joseph Heller and JD Salinger”. Paul Auster - Man in the Dark

Fear not, we don’t flatter to deceive. Gentry have scoured the book shelves, trawled the archives and harassed well-heeled readers to brink you the best book covers of all time – brilliant books with brilliant covers that do exactly what they say on the tin. Click on the links to see the editions of the covers.

5. A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)

A beautifully simple, stark and inviting cover from Penguin. David Pelham draws you in with the cold boldness of it. An aptly sinister reflection of the book's cynical message.

4. Ubik (Philip K. Dick)

This Panther edition of this science fiction classic is hideously arresting. The sickly, garish cover expresses perfectly the sense of evil lurking beneath Ubik's cool veneer.

3. War Gaming (Andrew Wilson)

Hard to imagine a cover more 70's than this. And there seems to be a pattern emerging… the undeniable effectiveness – from both a commercial and artistic perspective – of the simple, almost aggressively communicative design. A great offering from Pelican.

2. House of Meetings (Martin Amis)

This psychologically complex montage of images is underpinned by the strict sense of structure. Of all the jacket's on this list, this one feels the most like an independent work or art. The disjointedness of the narrative finds just the right representation here.

1. Man in the Dark (Paul Auster)

A recent book, that doesn't have the benefit of having endured. However, this is a fantastic cover (pictured left). A perfect expression of Auster's obsessions in this novel about the shards of identity, fragments of meaning, existential terrorism, patriotism of the self. I have no doubts that this is a cover built to last – bringing together not only the themes of the book but the issues that define the author's entire career.

This is just a short list and – of course! – doesn't attempt do justice to the vast array of wonderful book cover designs out there.

So, if you have any suggestions for this list of the best book covers of all time, we welcome them…

Related Features:

Category: Uncategorized