Reason #5: Cucumber Eyes
Reason #4: Floating red monks with penis caps
Reason #3: Books we've seen before with even more frightening covers!
Reason #2: Women peeling off their breasts and finding...um...other breasts underneath!
And phinally, Reason #1: NO PHALLUS PHOR PHALLIC PHRIDAY!!!!
24 comments:
Oh my!! :)
Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
These are the types of books I would've turned over on the back so the cover wouldn't show when I was a kid because I was scared or ashamed for the author.
I shall be having nightmares tonight, about red robed floating silver robot lovers with no phallas. Thanks, Maughta.
That Silver Metal Lover cover is scary, scary, scary! The last one was quite tame by comparison.
*cries*
I feel like I just read the Necronomicon.
THE FEMALE MAN!?
I have to agree with Sexy Sadie...what the hell does "The Female Man" mean?! Isn't a female by definition not a man? A man, by definition, not female?
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http://coverjunkie.blogspot.com/
I'm pretty sure that The Silver Metal Lover is René Descartes.
I've actually read The Female Man.
And I still can't tell you what the title means.
That book cover reminds me of how some female-to-male transsexuals who label themselves "female-to-female" (reasoning being that they were female inside all along). I first came across the term because one of my Facebook friends had installed an app that gives you extra options for gender. But geez, talk about confusing!
Oops sorry I meant male-to-female.
Oh wow. I just found your blog. I used to pull all sorts of great covers when I worked at a used bookstore. Bravo. These are terrific examples of why I love to get the older copies of sci fi paperbacks instead of newer printings. My husband just doesn't understand . . .
LOL, I HAVE that cover of the Female Man! The book itself is great, weird stuff, but the cover is super bizarre.
BTW, the Female Man is an examination of gender roles through 4 POVs, one of whom comes from a society/world entirely made of women, another from an alternate version of the 1950's, one as an assassin from the future sent to kill off all the men, and one other. Feminist SF from the 60's.
Worst SF book titles to go with (to be produced) worst SF book cover.
I have that copy of the Silver Metal Lover. It really is a great book, and that cover is a great disservice.
@ jane dough: Agreed - they may be funky but at least they're distinctive. The polished cover paintings and layouts of most modern SF books look awfully generic because they're all nice.
That Joanna Russ book is a classic and I think that is a paperback original. I have two copies of it. I think the cover, while creepy, is kinda awesome.
I'm pretty thick-skinned when it comes to horrible books, but that last one's gonna haunt me.
rp
I thought you would like this post, Rex.
In old English, "man" meant "adult human" -- hence why we have words like "mankind." A female adult human was a "wifman" (the F sound got dropped) and a male adult human was a "waepman." (I don't have the correct glyphs for that one -- the a and e should be a bit more meld-y.) There was a drama on TV recently where they set the story in those times and referred to people as "wife-man" and "weapon-man" respectively.
I have no idea if that's the logic behind the cover, I just think the word evolution is fascinating.
I too have read The Silver Metal Lover, and it is a really great book, but the cover is truly scary. Especially since the title figure in the book is described as extraordinarily beautiful.
Penis capes? How are those penis capes?
I read The Silver Metal Lover as a teen and adored it. The cover ain't great BUT it made me pick it up, so...
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