Hooked on a Book By Its Cover

Michael Cunningham wrote The Hours, which is a book I very much enjoyed.  But that’s not the only reason I want to get my hands on his newest book, A Wild Swan. I’m going to read A Wild Swan at least partly because of its illustrations, including that captivating cover by Yuko Shimizu.

I love it when publishers take the extra step to make a physical book into a beautiful object.

Shimizu is a well-known illustrator, and she’s started posting a look at the design process for A Wild Swan on her website, here.  Seeing how she drew and inked the cover illustration is fascinating.

Information about, and excerpts from, A Wild Swan can be found on Cunningham’s website here.   The US publisher’s website is here, which is where I got the cover art used above.