Author: Haruki Murakami
Title: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir
Publisher: London: Vintage, 2009
Call no.: 895.635 MUR
A while ago I was searching for books on running on Amazon.com when I chanced upon this curious title, so imagine my delight when I saw it among the new arrivals at Sengkang Public Library. The front cover design (the version on the left) certainly helped, with its mainly black-and-white visuals and the author’s name contrasted in light gray and white against the black background in the upper part. The red circle (and the use of red type) is an especially thoughtful element as it reflects the author’s Japanese culture and heritage.
The choice to draw a fairly winding road that leads back to the rising (or is it setting?) “sun” on the horizon is also a good attempt at conveying the idea behind the book, although a road that zigziags back and forth would have been more accurate with regard to the contents—but that would be a totally different cover altogether that’s probably not quite as pleasing to the eye.
You can see alternative versions here and here, but with its judicious four-color (yes, I count black, white, and gray as colors) scheme and the apt illustration, my money’s on this one.