# Books with the author's face on the cover. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140 "2017-03-01T23:06:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/1 "2017-03-01T23:06:05Z")
You know the kind. They often look like [this](https://d188rgcu4zozwl.cloudfront.net/content/B01MU30NB0/resources/890443870) (taken from another thread just now). That one is even more egregious by having the author’s entire body on the cover, not just the [huge, creepy, too-much-make-up face](http://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9780743296922/become-a-better-you-9780743296922_hr.jpg) which has become common. [Dr. Phil](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51w1xt-ogxL.jpg) published something similar. With the fist pump, even. Most of these are garbage self-help books. Some are lousy business books. Occasionally you get a semi-decent autobiography. So anyway, in addition to just ragging on how horrible these books usually are (in both style _and_ substance), are there any examples that break the stereotype? (Vaguely on-topic, vaguely humorous story: My dad got my little sister the Shel Silverstein book “The Giving Tree” for Christmas one year when she was maybe 4 or 5. But when she opened the gift wrap, the book was backwards, and she got to see a giant, glossy, hardcover photo of [this guy](http://i.imgur.com/ziYbmkP.jpg) first thing Christmas morning! She was actually scared.) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/2 "2017-03-01T23:09:15Z")
[I always liked Andre Agassi’s book Open, which features only his face on the cover, but:](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51bLSw3bk3L._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg) 1. It’s a great photo. I think in many ways, an iconic photo of him. 2. It conveys that he is being “open” about his feeling about his life and tennis. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/3 "2017-03-01T23:14:01Z")
Yep. I don’t know much about Andre Agassi, but I figured autobiographies would be where the best of these types of books come from. Autobiographies or sports. Or sports autobiographies. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/4 "2017-03-01T23:33:01Z")
Most autobiographies have the author on the cover. Some good ones: [The Education of Henry Adams](https://www.amazon.com/Education-Henry-Adams-ebook/dp/B0167TSWY8/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1488411110&sr=1-2&keywords=education+of+henry+adams). [The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt](https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Eleanor-Roosevelt-ebook/dp/B00ICN4ZUI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1488411008&sr=1-1&keywords=eleanor+roosevelt+autobiography) [The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas](https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Alice-B-Toklas-ebook/dp/B00OI56160/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488410816&sr=1-3&keywords=alice+b+toklas) (Despite the title, it’s Gertrude Stein’s autobiography) [Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011DIF02/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/5 "2017-03-02T00:07:14Z")
The Stephen King book “Misery” had a “second cover” parodying the art style of “bodice rippers”. The male figure is a idealized King himself. [http://www.lovelaughterinsanity.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Misery-Readalong.jpg](http://www.lovelaughterinsanity.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Misery-Readalong.jpg) Not quite what you had in mind, but cool nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/6 "2017-03-02T01:02:47Z")
If the book is by a famous author and published (or reissued with a new cover) after the author’s death, there is a good chance there will be a photo on the cover, even if it’s not an autobiography. I have books like that by [Richard Feynman](https://www.amazon.com/Six-Easy-Pieces-Essentials-Explained-ebook/dp/B004OVEYNU/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488416315&sr=1-4&keywords=richard+feynman) (about physics) and [Milton Friedman](https://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Freedom-Anniversary-Milton-Friedman/dp/0226264211/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488416369&sr=1-1&keywords=milton+friedman) (about economics). For some reason living humorists are another source of author-on-cover. Note [P. J. O’Rourke](https://www.amazon.com/Eat-Rich-Treatise-Economics-ORourke-ebook/dp/B008UX2W78/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1488416108&sr=8-5&keywords=pj+o%27rourke), [Dave Barry](https://www.amazon.com/Date-Boys-When-Youre-Forty-ebook/dp/B00DGZKSA8/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1488415996&sr=8-11&keywords=dave+barry) and [Richard Lederer](https://www.amazon.com/Fractured-English-Richard-Lederer/dp/0671000365). ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/7 "2017-03-02T08:24:09Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > The Stephen King book “Misery” had a “second cover” parodying the art style of “bodice rippers”. The male figure is a idealized King himself. > > [http://www.lovelaughterinsanity.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Misery-Readalong.jpg](http://www.lovelaughterinsanity.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Misery-Readalong.jpg) > > Not quite what you had in mind, but cool nonetheless. Thanks, I woke up the baby laughing at that. 😛 Never saw it before. Steve is kind of the antithesis of bodice-ripper material (no offense, I love him all the same). He did look dorky-cute in that attic photo in the mid 70s that was always on the back of his early novels. [This](https://nerdgirlpower.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/stephen-king-1.jpg), perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/8 "2017-03-02T14:13:11Z")
Cookbooks seem to have the author on the cover, usually in a kitchen setting, and they aren’t so bad. The big names in romance novels seem to forego the bodice ripper for a picture of the author- I think Jackie Collins graced her own covers for a span, for example. More annoying to me are back cover photos on self-published books, which range from crappy shots outside the house to vacation pics with multiple people without saying which is the author to shots clearly intended for their profile on a dating site (Yes, Jessica Watkins, I’m looking at [you](https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Side-Bitch-Jessica-Watkins-ebook/dp/B00FA08FR0/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1)). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/9 "2017-03-02T14:32:47Z")
My favorite is Jack Chalker’s **Dance Band on the Titanic** , which shows what is apparently Chalker himself at work on his computer, surrounded by his creations. [![](https://isfdb.org/wiki/images/b/b5/88DanceTitanic.jpg) ](https://isfdb.org/wiki/images/b/b5/88DanceTitanic.jpg) It’s the kind of cover I’ve seen numerous times with science fiction/fantasy authors… [spoiler]…except, as a note inside the BACK cover informs you, that’s not Chalker – it’s the image of his often cover artist, Darrel K. Sweet. The note explains that the reason is that he, Chalker himself, looks like THIS unphotogenic shot: > **[Jack L Chalker](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/jack-l-chalker/)** > > Author Jack L Chalker's complete list of books and series in order, with the latest releases, covers, descriptions and availability. “Now you know why”, explains Chalker. (The shot they used is even less appealing than this one, with Chalker scowling.) [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/10 "2017-03-02T14:43:35Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > The Stephen King book “Misery” had a “second cover” parodying the art style of “bodice rippers”. The male figure is a idealized King himself. > > [http://www.lovelaughterinsanity.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Misery-Readalong.jpg](http://www.lovelaughterinsanity.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Misery-Readalong.jpg) > > Not quite what you had in mind, but cool nonetheless. I laughed, too. Thanks. What about the simple exploitation of an author’s hotness?? I don’t think **Sebastian Junger’s** face was on the cover of his books like The Perfect Storm, but he’s so leading-man handsome that his book tours were SRO. I also remember a couple of years ago when a new woman author, **Marisha Pessl** was featured prominently in the PR with many photos that seemed more about her hotness than the modernist edge to her novels. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/11 "2017-03-02T15:11:19Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Most of these are garbage self-help books. Some are lousy business books. Occasionally you get a semi-decent autobiography. > > So anyway, in addition to just ragging on how horrible these books usually are (in both style _and_ substance), are there any examples that break the stereotype? The common factor for almost all such books is that they’re books written (at least ostensibly, perhaps with the help of ghostwriters) by celebrities (who are famous for something other than writing books)—anyone from [Amy Schumer](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51j10qkqfsL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg) to [Carl Reiner](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41kJcC7VghL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg) to [Emeril Lagasse](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51EWc%2ByLvNL._UY250_.jpg) to [Barack Obama](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/28/AudacityofHope.jpg). If putting a famous person’s face on the cover is going to grab people’s attention and sell more books, then by golly they’re gonna put the famous person’s face on the cover. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/12 "2017-03-02T17:40:20Z")
One edition of [Coldheart Canyon](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1109769.Coldheart_Canyon) features Clive Barker’s face. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/13 "2017-03-02T20:25:13Z")
A great many seem to be “airplane books”… those smarmy business books written by gurus teaching other business types big secrets, sold in airports and designed to be read on the next flight leg. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/14 "2017-03-02T20:40:13Z")
[Your Erroneous Zones](https://www.patrickwanis.com/12-lessons-from-your-erroneous-zones/) Anything by Andrew Weil. Anything by Joyce Meyer. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/15 "2017-03-02T22:16:29Z")
Even though it was written by “Richard Bachman,” [Rage](http://d3uahvj51kpljk.cloudfront.net/images/cms/reports/rage-stephen-king.jpg) has a likeness of Stephen King (as a teen) on the cover (_sans_ glasses). (_ **I** _ think it looks like him.) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/16 "2017-03-02T23:51:16Z")
_The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction_ occasionally has special author issues, all with the author’s likeness on the cover (as well as a story). Here are a few: [Theodore Sturgeon](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6rv-9J2Q0hI/Tu1_Xtk0ZLI/AAAAAAAAB1U/Bbp49X9c6aw/s1600/sturgeon1962.JPG) [Isaac Asimov](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h9oTBSLQGkM/Tu1_VQpBJbI/AAAAAAAAB0c/V7ujvo9C9B4/s1600/asimov1966.JPG) [Ray Bradbury](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wXDW6JZASNc/Tu1_WD_TgPI/AAAAAAAAB0s/shIhI0nSV3E/s1600/bradbury1963.JPG) [Fritz Lieber](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G_a3yNAAzrQ/Tu1_W4lRD0I/AAAAAAAAB1E/comgomEdNJU/s1600/lieber1969.JPG) [Poul Anderson](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U21JEW4ed8g/Tu1_VMCwvLI/AAAAAAAAB0U/jQNC590hIr8/s1600/anderson1971.JPG) [Damon Knight](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oJWcBc00HS8/Tu1_Wk1-xSI/AAAAAAAAB08/XxoPDawgn2A/s1600/knight1976.JPG) [Harlan Ellison](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZnT3a039CAY/Tu1_WZWjMQI/AAAAAAAAB00/uxPvziwg-Og/s1600/ellison1977.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/17 "2017-03-05T10:37:20Z")
A lot of books by [Isaac Asimov](https://www.amazon.com/Been-Good-Life-Isaac-Asimov-ebook/dp/B002FU5OIQ/ref=sr_1_37?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488709817&sr=1-37&keywords=isaac+asimov) have him on the cover. Seems to me Harlan Ellison put in a lot of Hitchcock cameos in the Pyramid/Ace days with the Leo and Diane Dillon illustrated covers (although the new ones all seem to look like [this](https://www.amazon.com/Deathbird-Stories-Harlan-Ellison-ebook/dp/B00JVCHFFQ/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488710059&sr=1-5&keywords=harlan+ellison+leo+diane+dillon)). ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/18 "2017-03-05T10:39:20Z")
[James Joyce](https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Novels-Wordsworth-Library-Collection/dp/1840226765/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488710293&sr=1-9&keywords=james+joyce). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/19 "2017-03-05T11:25:49Z")
[A German author](https://books.google.com.au/books?id=E7y6DQAAQBAJ) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-the-authors-face-on-the-cover/781140/20 "2017-03-05T15:28:03Z")
My favorite is this early cover of Ayn Rand’s [_The Virtue of Selfishness_](http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/21/e3/b8/21e3b8e941e64373605ff72635e05d6a.jpg), portraying Rand as an aging streetwalker on Wall Street, complete with her signature black cape and dollar-sign brooch. Even the Randroids laughed at this photo.