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A review by livrad
The Clothing of Books by Jhumpa Lahiri
2.0
I have really enjoyed Jhumpa Lahiri’s fiction work in the past, and this was my first time reading one of her non-fiction works. This short book on the importance of book covers left me wanting.
First, I found the linguistic style grating, which is a shame, because usually Lahiri writes such beautiful prose. This book was originally written in Italian and then translated into English—not by Lahiri, despite her being an American fluent in English. Whether due to her original writing in what is not her first language, or to a clunky translation, the language is a bit sophomoric without a sense of rhythm to it.
As for the content, I wanted it to delve deeper. There were only brief tidbits about the history of book covers, and many of the claims about U.S. cover trends seemed factually incorrect. I was hoping for a look into consumer psychology and how that drives cover choices. This may have been a more interesting read had it come from someone in production or marketing and not a novelist. Despite being a short book, it should have been much shorter if it wasn’t going to explore more of the topic. It could have just been a magazine article, as if was a long-winded way of her saying that she doesn’t always care for her own books’ covers.
First, I found the linguistic style grating, which is a shame, because usually Lahiri writes such beautiful prose. This book was originally written in Italian and then translated into English—not by Lahiri, despite her being an American fluent in English. Whether due to her original writing in what is not her first language, or to a clunky translation, the language is a bit sophomoric without a sense of rhythm to it.
As for the content, I wanted it to delve deeper. There were only brief tidbits about the history of book covers, and many of the claims about U.S. cover trends seemed factually incorrect. I was hoping for a look into consumer psychology and how that drives cover choices. This may have been a more interesting read had it come from someone in production or marketing and not a novelist. Despite being a short book, it should have been much shorter if it wasn’t going to explore more of the topic. It could have just been a magazine article, as if was a long-winded way of her saying that she doesn’t always care for her own books’ covers.