Book Notes

摘要

It is good to see the hackneyed saying about judging books by their covers turned abruptly on its head, and insistence made instead on how much book covers really matter. This is the point of emphasis with which Nicole Mathews begins her introduction to this collection of essays. Book covers are their facades and entry foyers. They may mislead as much as lead us in, but there is no doubting their significance. One way of gauging this is to imagine how much we would have to reorientate if all book covers were plain white and contained only the title and author's name. However critically, we certainly attend to the paratextual dimension of the cover, and like it or not, it does shape our response, perhaps especially when we are unfamiliar with a particular writer.