June TIOLI - Awful Cover Art

The rules are the same as those for Madeleine's April 2011 TIOLI Challenge to Read a Book With Striking Cover Art, except that we'll make rule #4 optional to protect the guilty.

1. List your book on the wiki under Challenge #20.
2. Post the book title and author.
3. Post an image of your book cover on this thread.
4. OPTIONAL: Name the person who created the cover art. Add a link to more info about the jacket designer, if possible.
5. Tell why the cover art should never have seen the light of day.

To post a book image, follow directions in the following post.

To get back to the main thread, click here.

These directions are copied from Madeleine's thread, which were copied from Tad, and will be there until Tad sends me a "cease and desist" message. (Until then, thanks Tad!)

More complete instructions (also Tad sei Dank) are here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/104943

To put a book cover (or any image) in your post

The format you want to type looks like the following.

< img width="XXX" src="YYY" >

Replace "XXX" with the internet address of width, in pixels, that you want your image. This allows you to scale down big images that might, otherwise, really mess up the layout of a posts. It doesn't matter how big the image is really, that tag will cause it to scale. As an example, the cover above is set to width="150".

Replace "YYY" with the URL (address) of the image you want to use. You can get a cover image off of the book's page. If you use the ones from LT, they sometimes disappear. If you choose one from down in the Amazon section, those are stable. Select the image and:

- if you use Firefox, right click and select "Copy Image Location"
- if you use Chrome, right click and select "Copy Image URL"
- if you use Safari, right click and select "Copy Image Address"
- if you use IE, right click and select "Properties" then select the address field

The result will look something like:

I'll start off the review of bad cover design with a 1972 edition of Philip K. Dick's novel We Can Build You:



The image is part inept sketch of a med-school cadaver and part scribbles to indicate springs and coils and wires and I don't know, electronicky stuff like maybe radio tubes. The color too is unpleasant, a sickly orange-yellow, roughly the shade you would pee if your sole source of hydration were orange soda.

The artist is John Schoenherr, who has done fantastic work on other books, including Hugo-winning work on Dune. But this ... isn't one of his masterpieces.

The above is the cover of the copy I own -- but I see the default image at this book's work page is also pretty bad, a magenta-and-olive-green eyesore with severed hand and pliers. Ugh:

I've choses Dead City by Joe McKinney for this challenge. Even though the subject of the book is about Zombies, I would prefer if the cover wasn't so graphic. A close-up of a blood covered zombie really isn't that appealing.

Ooooh! Can we vote on the worst cover at the end of this challenge?

Looking forward to seeing some horrible covers on this thread. Two great examples already. Any prize for guessing which genre will generate the worst cover art?

Any prize for guessing which genre will generate the worst cover art?

I'd be game for sending out a small prize. swynn, do you want to do a vote at the end of this challenge?

Oh Judy! That cover is going to give me nightmares. :)

#8 - I know. It's going to be one of those books that I read only while at home. Either that or I'll have to resort to a plain brown wrapper!

This was the ugliest one I could find in my stacks today. I just don't like it...I don't like the colors, the typeset, or the blurry road. There are editions with better covers, but this is the one that mine has. It is Nathan's Run by John Gilstrap.

Absolutely, let's do a vote.

I am going to try and post the book cover of the book I am reading for this challenge and hope it works!



Well, it did not work and I have no idea how to fix it. The book cover is here: www.librarything.com/work/16082/68600176 if anyone wants to take a look.

ETA: Amazon does not have the same cover of the book that I have, so I was having to use the one from my personal library. If someone could help me figure out what I did wrong, I would appreciate it.

> 12
Oh my goodness! It kind of puts you in a trance. I couldn't take my eyes off the cover .

#13: LOL! It does rather put you in a trance, doesn't it?

Hope this is the right cover Stasia.



Edited to add COMPLETED

That is the one. Thanks, calm!

I can't figure out how to add my book cover to here either. At the very least - it looks like tasteless wallpaper - here I hope is the cover of the book I just rec'd - and plan to read - http://www.librarything.com/work/14407

It's called Excellent Women by Barabar Pym. If anyone is able to bring the cover in for me - thanks! It's the purple one with the small flowers, with a bit of red a the top. Really ugly!

Well, obviously I do not know how to do it, Deb! :)

Me neither, Stasia!! Your cover art is very ugly too, if I may say so! ;)

Certainly! It makes me wonder what the heck the publishers were thinking!

Here you are Deb:)



Edited to add COMPLETED

< width="150" src="http://www.amazon.ca/Excellent-Women-Barbara-Pym/dp/0452267307/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1307191012&sr=8-4" >

Oh thanks so much Calm. It truly is rather ugly ... :)

#23: All of the Pym books at my local public library have covers along that line, Deb. You are right - rather ugly.

With cover " art" like this - one wonders how they expect to sell the book? Who knows what it is about? Wallpaper? Ugly flowers??? I must say -this is a fun thread! What a bunch of UGLY cover art!:)

> 12

Oh, my! That cover *is* dreadful, isn't it? :)

That's alright Deb, I guess I should go to my TBR shelves and see what to add to the JUne TIOLI challenges myself. I wonder if I've got any ugly covers:)

I'm not sure why so many people can't post the cover images but I only know how to do it with my browser and when I was learning the main problem I had was learning where to find the image URL. In Google Chrome it's right click the image and select "Copy image URL" then put it in the HTML code replacing the squiggly brackets with the pointy ones (above the comma and fullstop).

{img src="your URL here"}

I used pointy brackets, calm, but did not know how to bring up just the image on the book's work page.

Right click on the image and choose 'Properties'. You should then be able to cut and paste the image address.

I hope that makes sense....

The instructions for images are here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/104943

I think this is my choice for this challenge.

This is the cover for The Dark World by Henry Kuttner COMPLETED



There is no information as to who is responsible:)

I suppose it is quite typical of 1960's SF covers but it feels quite cluttered and busy and, to be honest, I'm not sure about the colour combination.

I must say, there are some of the ugliest covers I've ever seen on this thread. :)

I think science fiction covers from the 60s and 70s have the most potential for producing a 'worst' winner...

> 32

I must say, there are some of the ugliest covers I've ever seen on this thread.

Haha! I have to agree with you. I hope to see even more, though! :)

Here's a fun thing to do while others are posting on this thread...

Think of one word which *most* clearly expresses what you think of the art work on this thread. Let us know what word you come up with. You may use a thesaurus to help you find that word. :D

In defense of the artists who were responsible for these covers, I'd be happy to allow you space *on a second thread* to show us some of your better art work. Seriously.

Here's my nomination, although the author is excellent. I've already read his novel, The Ministry of Special Cases (5 stars!) for which the same cover artist did the cover art.



I keep wanting to throw this book out because it looks like I've spilled something on it. I wish you could see this in higher resolution. Perhaps the droplets mean something. I'll have to read this book to find out, eh?

The cover art by is Barbara deWilde. This cover artist is well known and has done more well known books.

More cover art by Barbara deWilde.

ETA: Do you think the cover artist spilled something on the book cover when she was designing it, and then brilliantly thought, "Hey! This might just do it?"

ETA2: This artist has some other very interesting covers. There are a few I like very much. I'd call this artist's work "stark".

ETA3: ... I did not read this book this month so I'm withdrawing it from the contest...not that I'd award myself a prize!. :D

Wow, some truly horrid covers! I'm racking my brain to come up with one word to describe these covers but they are all so different - each ugly in it's own way.

#36 Madeline, your cover looks like the artist couldn't come up with an idea and shed a few tears which smudged the printing.

> 37

...looks like the artist couldn't come up with an idea and shed a few tears which smudged the printing.

LOL!

> 15

Stasia, I keep looking at that book cover art which is so terrible that it keeps making me laugh. It has really brightened up my day!

These covers are so funny! I'm sitting here chuckling over them. I think I'll have to join in on this one!

Karen O.

"Hidiousity" springs to mind for all of them (except maybe SqueakyChu's, which is only annoying), but none are as eye-gougingly bad as Stasia's offering. I had to look away because it hurt my eyes to look at it, and for a brief horrifying moment I thought I might get a migraine from it.

ETA this is a great challenge btw.

> 36 : You have an unbearable urge to throw out your book, and it would be a relief if you did?

It really is quite a fun thread! I agree -each cover is hideous in it's own way. Hmmm - " Unbearable Urges" , written by a man, and splotches on the cover. Hmm. I'll not say what comes to mind.....;)

Dead City - yes , I's want to read that in a plain brown wrapper too! ;)

And yes - Capitve Mind is truly seizure inducing. All of the covers a suitablely ugly!

It's great for a chuckle!! :)

Loving these awful covers! I haven't chosen one for this challenge yet, I plan to have a look and see if anything stands out as being particularly ugly. On the whole, if I have any choice in the matter, I tend to avoid buying a book with a cover I don't like, unless I think I'm unlikely to find it in a different edition at some point in the future.

Since all these books are atrocious in their different and unique ways, I don't think one word in the english language can adequately capture the essence of all of them. I would have to combine two words, freaking and ugly and say all these covers are FRUGLY!. That is my one word - FRUGLY! :)

ETA - I've scanned my shelves and there is NO books that I have that come remotely to the frugliness of the books on this thread. Hats off to all of you!

Oh, dear. I like that Barbara Pym cover ... a lot.

> 46

As they say, beauty is always in the eye of the beholder.

@46 - well mine just came from the Book Depository a few days ago! If you simply must have that cover art for my Barbara Pym - you can still get it! ;)
This is a fun thread!

#39: Anything to brighten your day, Madeline :)

I've just spent the weekend away from internet access, so I'm delighted to see the covers added since Friday. Well, delighted ... and little ill.

Sorry about the troubles with posting images. I have edited the instructions in post #1, and have added the link to Tad's "Basic HTML" thread for more details (thanks, Lori!).

I now have a candidate for this challenge. I inadvertently acquired two different copies from Bookmooch (I thought cataloguing my book on LT was meant to stop this happening so often!), so am planning to give one away again. One cover I quite like, the other looks nightmarish, with some sort of light-sabre type weapon being wielded by someone about to have something clamped over his/her nose. Not having read it yet, I don't know which one more accurately reflects the book, but I know which one makes me want to read it.

This is the horrid one:


and this is the more attractive (in my mind) one, though not a very good reproduction:

Shhhhh....I also really like those Barbara Pym covers that look like wallpaper. I've been going out of my way to collect those editions.

>51 gennyt:: Having read the book, I can say the horrid cover is horrid in every way.

#53 And would you recommend the book, if not the cover?!

> 51

That cover is truly gross! :)

Who designs these things anyway? Why was I the only person who posted the cover artist's name of my chosen book? ;-)

Just need to say that I really love this challenge, but I'm apalled at what some cover art designers put "out there".

Can't wait to see more...

>54 gennyt:: Absolutely. Anderson is a favorite, and this is a good one. I'm partial to the cover art on this edition, which is the one I own.

Your first cover appears to be a design for some YA cyberpunk thriller that the artist wasn't able to sell elsewhere. (Wonder why.) I agree the second cover is more appealing ... and more appropriate.

This is an amazing, amusing, and appalling thread. At this moment, Stasia's book is my front runner for worst. But...

I looked at Madeline's artist link. She designed a book cover from which I could not determine the title of the book, which oddly enough seems to have something to do with the word "design". Surely that would be counterproductive? On the other hand, some of her covers are quite striking.

Second choice is gennyt's Poul Anderson mess. My, my.

I'm looking forward to many more laughs and head-shaking from this thread: thanks very, very much, swynn!

Well, I'm beginning to read Excellent Women by Barbara Pym.......... I'm sure the book will prove far superior to the cover art! :)

I'm another who quite likes the Pym cover....

#59: Stasia's book is my front runner for worst

I have never come in first at anything! OK, so it is not my work but still :)

I agree, Stasia's cover is mind-bendingly awful - gives me a headache just looking at it!

Ok folks -- I personally find the cover of this book, Hit List, the new Anita Blake novel just out today, to be remarkably ugly.

However, since it's odd that a sure-to-hit the bestseller lists book would have an awful cover, I'm wondering if it's just me? Can I get some votes as to whether I should add it to the Wiki list?

Thanks!

You should add it- it's gross-looking and objectifying.

Yes, it is very ugly , especially for a modern book. I wonder sometimes what so called cover artists are thinking!@64 - I think that cover is completely suited to the the ugly cover art TIOLI . Let's hope that the book itself proves to be better than the cover art! :)

64> ugly, yes.

What is it? I see the seat of a toliet, next to which are clouds in the shape of a donkey with the skull of an ape while a man in a trench coat (not a cloud shape) walks towards the clouds.

LOL @ Mike!!

Mike, I'm glad you can detect the toilet seat as I can't make out one thing in that picture. Wait, a minute. I do see something... I see a silhouette of a man with a very small head!

> 64

Yes, Dejah_Thoris. It's definitely ugly.

I'm glad that the consensus is for ugly -- honestly, I was wondering if I was missing some modern esthetic....

>67 MikeBriggs: Mike, you are too funny. Actually, you're right on the man in the trench coat (small head and all), I don't see the donkey (it's just blobs to me) but I agree with the ape skull. The toilet seat, however, is a naked woman in profile draped over a red velvet something -- the arm of a couch?

Actually, maybe a toilet seat and donkey would be better....

I'll add it to the Wiki.

I don't see the donkey, but I eventually perceived a toilet seat on the far left...

I also found the toilet seat, but have yet to find the donkey.

The donkey is the naked woman. That's what I get for looking at book covers on my phone. I see donkeys instead of naked women.

I completed my Ugly Cover Read - the book wasn't very good either.

I opted out of reading mine, not that it would not be good, because I do expect it to be good. I just had too little time, and something had to go. Oh, well!

Are we still up for the contest at the end of the month? ...for COMPLETED books only, though.

gennyt, did you read and COMPLETE The Broken Sword? If so, get it on the wiki and mark it COMPLETED so it can also be in the ugly contest!

I'm glad to see that the Excellent Women cover is a different edition from mine, I was thinking I rather like the Virago Modern Classics cover on mine.

Oh - by the way - I finished Excellent Women and very much enjoyed it - and wrote up a review for it as well. I also updated my status as for the TIOLI on Wiki.

@76 - I'll have to have a look at your cover . I really enjoyed Barbara Pym -and I will read another book by her - ugly cover or not! :)

I've gone back and posted COMPLETED on the cover images I posted

The Captive Mind for Stasia

Excellent Women for Deb

and The Dark World for me.

They have all been marked COMPLETED on the TIOLI challenge.

Madeleine, thanks for handling the voting for this!

I haven't read the Broken Sword yet. If by any chance I do get to it before the end of the month (unlikely) I will add it promptly to the wiki so that it can be included too.

> 79

You're welcome. I'm sorry we didn't get more entries. However, the ones we got were bad enough! :)

The Captive Mind was definitely better than the cover art provided for it!

> 82

The Captive Mind was definitely better than the cover art provided for it!

Glad to hear that, Stasia!

I really enjoyed this challenge! Great ugly covers! :) And despite the cover, I found my book to be most excellent. As our mother's taught us - never judge a book by it's cover... ;)

@83 - I was looking at your link to Barbara DeWilde. I'm thinking she's not such a talented artist! .....

This thread is hilarious! More the descriptions of the covers than the awfulness of the covers, but I giggled till I cried- made worse by the fact I didn't want anyone to hear my snorts and ask what the matter was.

I forgot to mention that the cover art on my book is signed by the artist, Paul Rand. It is a very small signature, but it is there. Personally I cannot blame him for signing it so small :)

In reverse order, I'll be announcing the results of the contest for most awful cover art.

Tie for seventh place are:
Nathan's Run
For the Relief of Unbearable Urges*
Excellent Women

*This book had been disqualified as it had not been COMPLETED and was therefore eliminated from the wiki...and from the contest. Don't worry, though. It was my book. I never even cracked it as I found too many other interesting things to read in June. :D

>88 SqueakyChu:: Madeline, that is so funny. Glad to know I'm not alone in having good impulses which remain sadly unfulfilled as I become distracted by the shiny.

I dont know how to get pictures on here, but the book is blood water.

Hi yootah!

Welcome to the TIOLI challenges!

The book you chose would have been a great selection, but, sadly for you, the contest is only for those books that were entered last month (June) and completely read before the end of June.

However, there is more fun ahead in the TIOLI challenges. You can read more about them here.

This month's challenges are listed here. Join us!

In sixth place, for awful cover art was:
We Can Build You

In Fifth Place is:
Hit List

In Fourth Place is:
The Broken Sword

Well, I'm making good progress on a TIOLI read between Madeline's postings.

:)

In Third Place is:
The Dark World

In Second Place is:
Dead City

...meaning that the MOST Awful Cover Art Winner and...

In First Place is:



The Captive Mind - submitted to this challenge and read by Stasia (alcottacre).

Congratulations!!!

What I liked most were what all of you said about Stasia's book cover. Incidentally, hers was my first choice as well, although I refrained from voting since I was doing the tabulations.

-----------------

Here are some quotes about the cover art for The Captive Mind.

"wins hands down - gives me a headache every time I look at it" - gennyt

"Number 1 has got be Captive Mind" - jacqueline065

"a clear winner" - avatiakh

"worst cover, guaranteed to induce migraines and/or seizures for anyone who looks at it for more than 30 sec "- kidzdoc

"The worst is The Captive Mind in my opinion. The other 2 I select to make it 3 don't even come close" - thornton37814

"the mostest worstest ugliest cover in the whole awful lot" - countrylife

---------------

Thanks, everyone for submitting your entries and voting.

P.S. Stasia, please private message me your mailing address to receive your (small) prize.

Now that we know, I can go back to uninterrupted reading - after checking to see what number is up on the first TIOLI challenge in July! Still trying to fit one in.

Congratulations Stasia, your cover was truly "the mostest worstest ugliest cover" of the whole bunch!

Congratualtions Stasia - a worthy winner indeed!
Thanks Madeline for collating the votes.

My pleasure!

Congrats to Madeline for making me finally pick up the ugliest covered book! lol

Next time pick something prettier, Stasia! :)

That cover always makes me laugh. I keep thinking that it is just *so* terrible. Who would ever want to put such a cover on their book?! I still can't believe it.

#104: I cannot believe the illustrator actually signed the cover too!

> 105

LOL!!

Congragulations Stasia! That cover was really ugly indeed!

#107: Thanks, Deb, although I guess the real thanks should go to Paul Rand, the illustrator.

Adding my congratulations, Stasia (and to Paul Rand!). I'm not surprised that this one was the winner...

Actually I think the worst cover art looks pretty beautiful. It's like an optical illusion of some sorts....I'm strange I guess.

#109: I am not terribly surprised either, Genny. I would have had to vote for it myself.

#110: It just goes to prove the old adage, Nathan - beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

>111 alcottacre: So true.