Here at the University of Chicago Press, publishing books of rich and valuable scholarship is all in a day’s work. And while most book reviews assess the learned content between the covers, occasionally a book is noted not just for the insight inside but for the package it comes in.
Lennard Davis’s Obsession: A History is such a book. Professor Davis’s book was recently heralded by the Economist, but Isaac Tobin’s cover design has been trumpeted far and wide in the blogosphere, from Readerville to the Book Design Review. We think both Davis’s and Tobin’s achievements deserve wide praise. And the synchronicity of the two is just a bonus. As Readerville notes, “Extra points for the subtle implication that to even think of such a thing—much less actually do it—perfectly reflects the title.” Here’s to obsessive scholarship and obsessive design, together at last.