Nemesis by Philip Roth (Houghton Mifflin)

Philip Roth’s last novel, released in 2010, and set in a fictionalized 1944 Newark, New Jersey during the height of the polio epidemic. This was also the conclusion of Roth’s “Nemeses” novels, that included 3 other books. This cover marked the fourth and final collaboration between Milton Glaser and Philip Roth. From Glaser’s site:

The cover references both the stifling heat wave in Newark, New Jersey in the 1940s, and the protagonist’s interest in javelin throwing.

I love Glaser’s jacket designs because they show a side of Glaser I’m not used to seeing. Anyone eye-balling this book at the local Barnes and Noble would have had severe difficulty linking this cover to the Push Pin maestro. There’s no idiosyncratic display type, no zany illustrations, no art nouveau influence. 2010 was maybe when Gotham’s popularity peaked and I see it as a very timely choice. To me, range is what defines a good artist, this cover makes a point of that for Glaser.