I realized today that I might never have come upon either of these books had it not been for Pittsburgh's clever cover design. You see, a clothing store won't make me suddenly loose with my pocketbook. Electronics won't threaten my bank account. But put me in a bookstore and suddenly I have a stack of books I can't live without and I'm ready to blow our budget on them. I just love owning the books I read. I feel quite comforted by them, really. And a smart cover design doesn't hurt things. In fact, unless I'm searching for a certain title, cover design is usually the number one reason I'll select a specific tome off the shelf. This is exactly what happened with Chabon's first novel. And then I read it and liked it and read more.
