Book Jackets: All (by title) – Page 3

Cleaning House »

Nancy Hayfield, 1980
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780374124830

A new twist on life as a suburban housewife is examined here, Fred’s title does a clean sweep of the house in an unexpected fashion. Note the slender shadow, cast by the type, that falls subtly onto the floor.

The Climate of Hell »

Herbert Lieberman, 1978
Simon & Schuster
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780671243630

Fred’s illustration visually synthesizes the book’s plot, in a novel, based on fact, about an Israeli agent who tracks down the notorious Nazi “Angel of Death” in a Paraguay resort where he’s been hiding out.

Closed World of Love »

Archie Hill, 1977
Simon & Schuster
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780671228453

“Why me? Why us? Why my child?” This is a heart-wrenching story about a man’s marriage to a woman who is the mother of a seriously retarded child. Fred’s illustration simply depicts that man’s journey to love.

Coasting »

Jonathan Raban, 1987
Simon & Schuster
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780671454807

This travelogue describes the author’s 1982 single-handed voyage around Britain in an old restored ketch. He sailed with a chart, a hand-bearing compass, and by the look of the coastline. His account offers many digressions about life in England at that time…

The Comfort of Strangers »

Ian McEwan, 1982
Washington Square Press
First Edition, Paperback
ISBN: 9780671449568

An English couple spend a holiday in an unnamed city, clearly Venice. And who is that intruding himself into the pair’s reflection in Fred’s illustration? This novel, later a major movie, explores the intricacies of an evolving and dangerous relationship with a forceful native.

The Comfort of Strangers »

Ian McEwan, 1981
Simon & Schuster
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780671428501

Ian McEwan’s second novel, very controversial for its dark vision, was set in an unnamed city with canals. From Fred’s cover, it‘s clear that he saw it as Venice, which is no surprise given his deep attachment to the city.

The Coming of the Demons »

Gwenyth Hood, 1982
William Morrow and Company
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780688007768

As the cover proclaims, this novel is “historical science fantasy.” In it, aliens come to earth in the 13th century, and change human history. Fred’s eerie montage incorporates the period, and other-worldliness, all at once.

The Complete Guide to Collecting Art »

Lee Rosenbaum, 1982
Alfred A. Knopf
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780394513478

In broad strokes, Fred manages to summarize the notion of “art,” without depicting any. Except, of course, his own beautifully rendered illustration.

The Compromise »

Sergei Dovlatov, 1983
Alfred A. Knopf
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780394528557

The pen, the sky, the road. Anyone familiar with Fred’s book jackets will recognize all three elements as staples in his visual vocabulary. Here, they meet for “The Compromise,” the tale of the massive dissembling required of writers working within the USSR.

Confessions of a Teenage Baboon »

Paul Zindel, 1977
Harper & Row
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780060268442

A fifteen-year-old boy has a troubled relationship with his mother. His father walked out when he was a child, leaving behind a Chesterfield coat. For the hero, coming of age means fitting into that treasured coat.

Congo Diary »

Joseph Conrad, 1978
Doubleday Books
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780385007719

Fred was excited about the opportunity to work on this cloth-bound first edition of excerpts from Joseph Conrad’s only journal. He took pleasure in seeking out just the right fabric, and keeping the typography understated.

The Congress Dances »

Susan Mary Alsop, 1984
Harper & Row
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780060152802

The 1815 Congress of Vienna set the stage for every sort of domestic and diplomatic intrigue imaginable. For the jacket of this historical exploration, Fred created a suitable silhouette, reflective of the period and style.

Conscience Place »

Joyce Thompson, 1984
Doubleday Books
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780385188647

The Place is a colony for the deformed offspring of nuclear accident victims. But it flourishes peacefully. The events in this book are hair-raising, but Fred chose to depict a moment of calm before the turmoil set in.

Corrupt and Ensnare »

Francis M. Nevins Jr., 1978
G. P. Putnam's Sons
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780399122033

This is a novel of political intrigue involving the corruption of a judge. The jacket displays two of Fred’s favorite visual themes, the air-brushed sky, and typography that conveys a ”voice” appropriate to the book’s message.

The Crazy Horse Electric Game »

Chris Crutcher, 1987
Greenwillow Books
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780688066833

Crazy in Berlin »

Thomas Berger, 1982
Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780440011316

Fred produced book jackets for a number of Thomas Berger novels. This one introduces the reader for the first time to Carlo Reinhart, an army medic in Berlin after World War II. It’s a coming-of-age tale in which his protagonist learns something about love, chaos, and madness.

A Creature Was Stirring »

Tobias Wells, 1977
Doubleday Books
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780385073318

Fred was a master at synthesizing two or more ideas in one stark image. His Christmas ornaments, each bearing that awful skull, reflect the holiday theme, while suggesting the novel’s ominous events.

A Cruel Madness »

Colin Thubron, 1985
Atlantic Monthly Press
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780871130235

It's clear how much Fred admired Magritte in this evocative illustration for the book's first edition jacket. Set in a lunatic asylum and in a boys' public school in Wales, this riddle of a tale is told by a hypersensitive, unreliable narrator. Even the asylum might be imaginary.

The Crying Heart Tattoo »

David Lozell Martin, 1982
Holt, Rinehart and Winston
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780030604881

When book stores were everywhere in any city, they displayed jackets as art works, as in a gallery. Fred’s belief was that they were, in fact, and above all else, posters. Sometimes the most direct image was the best one, as here.

Cuban Passage »

Norman Lewis, 1982
Pantheon Books
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780394520698

Cult Movies »

Danny Peary, 1981
Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780440016267

The book is a series of essays about the cult film phenomenon. From his star-studded background panel to his Hollywood letter forms, it’s obvious that Fred greatly enjoyed the iconic imagery that allowed his type to “talk.”

Curse of the Vampires »

Margaret Ronan, 1979
Scholastic Books
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780590300629

A stylized portrait of Bela Lugosi as Dracula? Why not? The book might just make your spine tingle. It also covers the story of the real Count Dracula, and the truth about vampire bats. Once again, note Fred’s airbrushed background.

Dad »

William Wharton, 1981
Alfred A. Knopf
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780394510972

This is the second book by William Wharton (his first, Birdy, was also designed by Fred), about a painter's dying father.

Dad »

William Wharton, 1989
Avon Books
First Edition, Paperback
ISBN: 9780380585946

Our archives include two versions of this cover, one for the hardcover first edition, the other for the paperback. Fred had great success with his work on the author’s previous “Birdy,” winning the National Book Award for that jacket.

Daggermen »

Richard H. Francis, 1980
Pantheon Books
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780394509907

A thriller, it’s a bizarre and horrifying journey about the insane and somehow consistent logic of a mass murderer. Fred’s signature star-studded sky is a serene foil for the monster’s strange portrait. Where did that title typeface come from?

Dale Loves Sophie to Death »

Robb Forman Dew, 1981
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780374134501

This book won the National Book Award in 1982, in the category of First Novel. Fred always read any work of “serious fiction” cover-to-cover before embarking on the creation of a jacket, in order to fully understand the author’s intention.

Dames »

Elizabeth North, 1981
Alfred A. Knopf
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780394519685

This is an account of life in an English girls’ school during the 1940s, and the influence it had on the students in later years. Fred’s out-of-focus period illustration sets the stage for the nostalgic journey.

The Dancing Dodo »

John Gardner, 1978
Doubleday Books
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 780385124621

World War Two scattered wreckage all over Europe, including the title airplane. One wonders how Fred was able to find this shot, and how he managed to wrap the plane’s name so convincingly before the 3D digital art make the task simpler.

Dancing in the Dark »

Janet Hobhouse, 1983
Random House
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780394529400

Modern relationships in the glitter of Manhattan society are explored in this novel. Interesting to note, that in spite of “the dark” in the title, Fred chose to place his dancer in a dusty light panel, hard to see, but there.

The Dangerous Edge »

Robert Daley, 1983
Simon & Schuster
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780671470579

An ex-patriot, post WW II, executes the perfect crime by robbing a bank in Nice. He’s pursued by an idealistic cop. In Fred’s jacket image, the culprit appears to step casually out of the postcard’s picture plane. Trouble ahead.

The Dark Card »

Amy Ehrlich, 1991
Viking Press
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780670837335

This is the tale of a 17-year-old who lives near Atlantic City. Deeply troubled by her mother’s recent death, she dresses up in her clothes, and begins to explore the casinos. Fred set up a stack of cards, asked a friend to pose, and painted this image from life.

The Dark Sister »

Rebecca Goldstein, 1991
Viking Press
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780670835560

When an eccentric novelist moves to New England to focus on her current book, she’s plagued by phone calls from her silly but dangerous sister. Fred enjoyed the beauty of tinted photographs, and unusual period typefaces.

The Days Grow Short »

Ronald Sanders, 1980
Holt, Rinehart and Winston
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780030194115

Fred’s art scholarship was vast. He mastered visual styles from far and wide, century by century, country by country. For this book about the legendary Kurt Weill, he enjoyed reflecting the typography of Germany in the 1920s and ‘30s.

Death and the I Ching »

Lulla Rosenfeld, 1981
Clarkson N. Potter, Inc.
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780517540299

An actress throws the coins of the I Ching to foretell her future. Bad idea. Fred read every novel before beginning to work on its cover. He always aimed to visually “crystalize” (his word) the author’s intention, as was the case here.

Death by Hoax »

Lionel Black, 1978
Doubleday Books
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780380413768

A crank phone caller manages to bring out the fire brigade, empty a theatre, and stop a train. Then things get serious. Fred seems to have incorporated the entire story into this illustration, up to and including that portentous skull.

Death in a Serene City »

Edward Sklepowich, 1990
William Morrow and Company
First Edition, Hardcover
ISBN: 9780688091804

Fred’s year in Venice as a Fulbright scholar greatly influenced his visual vocabulary throughout his life. This first edition jacket was an invitation to savor “La Serenissima,” its symbols and its romanticism, even artfully spilling over onto the book’s spine.