The Clothing of Books

A deeply personal reflection from a Pulitzer Prize–winning author that explores the art of the book jacket from the perspectives of both reader and writer.

How do you clothe a book? Probing the complex relationships between text and image, author and designer, and art and commerce, Lahiri delves into the role of the uniform; explains what book jackets and design have come to mean to her; and how, sometimes, “the covers become a part of me.”