Blown Covers: New Yorker Covers You Were Never Meant to See

By Françoise Mouly

The art director of The New Yorker serves up“a delicious forbidden taste of the art that didn’t quite nail it, or nailed it a bit too hard” (The Marginalian).

Françoise Mouly takes us behind the scenes at The New Yorker and reveals how the magazine creates its signature covers commenting on the most urgent political and cultural events of the day. She shows the shocking and hilarious sketches that didn’t make the cut and explains how these are essential stages in the evolution of a cover that stands the test of time but retains its edge. Her book captures contemporary history—from the farce of Monica Lewinsky to the adventures of Michelle and Barack to nuclear meltdown in Japan—in images that are as acute as they are outrageous. More than that, it shows how the magazine that exemplifies journalistic excellence in America also dares to cultivate a sense of humor when grappling with complex moral and political issues.

“Interesting failures are the driving force behind Blown Covers . . . paging through this book is like standing in the corner of her office as she pins up rejected covers on the wall. Mouly has dozens of tales about images that failed for one reason or another. Now, presumably with the approval of her bosses at Condé Nast, she has created a tell-all (or tell-most) that even non–illustrators and designers will find enlightening.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Yes, Blown Covers sometimes offends—and that’s the audacious joy of it.” —NPR.org

“Offers some true delights.” —The Sacramento Bee

“Reveals the shocking and hilarious sketches that didn’t make the cut.” —Patch

• Language: English
• Publisher: ABRAMS
• Release date: Jan 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781613123218

Book preview

Reviews for Blown Covers

[bness2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The rejected covers in this book are sometimes fascinating and sometimes baffling, but the stories behind them are what is most fascinating about this book. It's also amazing how differently people view the same piece of art.

[piemouth · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The stories behind New Yorker covers that did or didn't make the final cut, for various reasons. Enjoyable but not terrific. I probably shouldn’t have bought this and am not sure if I’ll keep it.

[detailmuse · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

From the front flap:{New Yorker covers} attempt, every single week, to capture the aspects of our culture that are just beyond conscious grasp.I enjoyed The Rejection Collection (the first in New Yorker cartoon editor Robert Mankoff’s books of rejected cartoon submissions) and was happy to see this coffee-table treatment of rejected covers by New Yorker art editor Mouly (who is btw married to artist/memoirist Art Spiegelman).And there are a couple hundred covers here, in all stages of conception and finalization, well-reproduced and mostly in full color, organized into sections on Race/Ethnicity; Sex; Religion; Politics; Celebrities; Wars/Disasters; Taboos; and accompanied by commentary from Mouly and the artists about how time sensitivities (the news cycle), cultural sensitivities, and the right combo of clarity/subtlety combine to yay or nay a cover.It's very good, my only quibble being that, contrary to the title and subtitle, it’s actually as much about controversial covers that were published as about “blown” covers, and thus feels a little short.