Judging Books By Their Covers: The Sit-In

Today in aesthetic central: An Osmond brother goes rogue. Let’s turn on, tune in, and find out.

The Sit-in by George B. Anderson

Published: 1970, Ace Paperback

Cover Artist: George Gross

Just looking – ♪ What a show, there they go smokin’ up the sky, yeah ♪

What it makes me think – Donnie Osmond goes to college, stops shaving, and before you know it, he’s going to stick it to the man. I know, that’s not Donnie Osmond, but I think anyone could see the resemblance, and what’s cooler than an Osmond on a Pulp cover? The cardigan and the loafers scream university setting to the point that we almost don’t need that little stack of books and the Collegiate Gothic architecture in the background. It’s the crowd violence that seals the deal. If you look close, you’ll see the police officers are wearing white helmets and uniforms consistent with what one might find in archival photos of demonstrations in the 1960s. The illustration is almost timely given the protests we see in places like Los Angeles today. Almost, because when I watch the news and see the current protests, I just think, Lord, help us. But the Civil Rights movement was a noble cause. The anti-war crowd wasn’t malicious. Yeah, I know, I’m ready to fire up some Creedence too. Then you get to the revolver and the tagline. Now we’re in murder-suspense territory. George Gross did the cover, and it’s interesting to note that there is no damsel in distress.

The title looks like a custom job somewhere between Helvetica and Impact. It’s an aggressive custom job, just like a contract hit. Tell me there’s no mafia connection. I guess I’d have to read it to find out. Back to the title font: it’s bold and loud. An interesting contrast would be the clothes on the rogue-hippy-Osmond-brother. Yellow is a loud color for that cardigan, but it’s rendered in a subdued tone here. The shirt, pants, and shoes fall in line. Well done.

Would I buy it? Yes, I dig it. Find it here.

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