Heller Catch 22 book cover
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¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 1 In looking back at different cover art for the novel Catch 22, I was surprised to discover that the original cover is far and away the most popular cover, then and now. If you buy the book today from Amazon, you’ll see nearly the same cover you would find in 1961 when the book was first published.
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¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 1 In fact, when doing the research for this post I came across a significant number of “top 20” lists featuring best book covers through the ages and this cover was consistently featured. I’ve owned various copies of this book since I first read it in high school and I’d never paid the cover much attention, despite it’s treasured status on my book shelf.
¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 1 When considering design elements, the bold font paired with the simple, mostly unadorned style of the cover certainly contributes to why this particular cover is so timeless. It highlights the figure in red in the lower left, who could be our protagonist or any other pilot featured in the novel. I say this because on closer examination he appears to be a dancing marionette. He has no agency or control over his fate, which is the theme of the novel wrapped in one succinct symbol.
¶ 6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 1 Looking at some of the other covers through the years, I would say this one is far superior.
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¶ 8 Leave a comment on paragraph 8 1 Common elements shared by these other covers rainging from 1968 through 1990 emphasize the military theme of the novel. The first edition identifies this only through his hat, which isn’t readily apparent. This might be a decision to sell the novel as a war novel, which is certainly is. But the book almost never depicts or glorifies the combat aspect.
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¶ 10 Leave a comment on paragraph 10 0 This is the 1968 cover. In my mind this cover is more disingenuous. If someone picked this up they might be expect something more akin to a Tom Clancy novel or a war narrative more similar to some of the films about world war 2 in the time period. The use of the pilots face and the plane in the background sells it as a wartime tale, in tandem with the text on the cover calling it “The best American novel to come out of WW2” The Great Escape came out in in 1963, with the film Patton first seeing theaters in 1970. Both of these use similar imagery on their covers, Patton with the titular cover and the Great Escape featuring a larger cast of brave faces. The dissonance present is that this novel’s main character is a self identified coward and those films are heroic tales of larger than life figures.
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¶ 12 Leave a comment on paragraph 12 1 Featured here is a cover from the 1970’s. Later covers like this one and the cover from the 1990’s use falling medals as the standout feature on the cover. This one obviously maintains the large bold typeface, the 90’s cover uses a slimmer font you would recognize immediately as a style from the 90’s that’s not very appealing today. I think the falling medals image is a more appropriate representation than the earlier covers used but still not as great as the puppet imagery from the original. After doing the research, I certainly plan on using some sort of puppet-puppetmaster theme in my own design. Something that riffs off the original and keeps that lack of free will or feeling of lack of control inherent to the novel and what it’s title represents.
Do you chalk this up to a case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” or do you think the novel itself compels a kind of retro-aesthetic? That cover is, after all, very iconic; it was produced in an age when literary cover art had become standardized and expected; and it’s very eye-catching. But does something about Heller’s novel additionally seem to compel this “retro” vibe, in your opinion?