When She Was Good by Philip Roth (1968 Bantam Books edition)
I first read Roth (1933–2018) back in the late 1960s. I’d already heard of him (Goodbye, Columbus—story and movie, 1969), but had not read him. But then I saw a provocative paperback cover “speaking” to me … can’t remember where. Some display. Somewhere. It was his novel When She Was Good (1967). I had no choice. I had to buy it. Read it. Love it. The image you see is that book that “spoke” to me.
Okay, perhaps the blurb at the bottom of the cover got me: A stunning portrait of the all-American bitch. Now there’s a blurb you’re not likely to see on a book cover in 2018!
This cover from 1968 is different from later paperbacks by Bantam Books in several regards: First of all, it prominently features an image. The reference to the previous bestseller is placed at the top, and the author’s name is in possessive form. All type is in the same color, with letterforms that are horizontally stretched. The typeface is the same, though: It’s Benguiat Caslon.
