In France, Elmore Leonard is published by Éditions Payot & Rivages, under their respected Rivages/Noir series, founded by François Guérif in 1984. This imprint brought together the greats of crime fiction: Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Jim Thompson, James Lee Burke, David Goodis, and Elmore Leonard.
The French covers lean on atmosphere. They’re built around mood and capture the cool edge and quiet menace that runs through Dutch’s work.
Many — not all — American publishers fail to do this. They just don’t get it. Their Elmore Leonard editions leave you with the distinct impression they have no idea who they’re dealing with. You have to wonder: Did anybody in the art department read the book? What a radical suggestion!
In the last trade-paperback series issued by HarperCollins (still in print), Dutch and I would attempt to circumvent the banality by mocking up our own cool covers (I’ll show some of them in a future post), but our ideas were universally rejected — a case of NOT INVENTED HERE.
Elmore Leonard readers buy his novels and stories for the writing, often ignoring the cover. Rivages editions give the book a presence—a visceral experience that complements the prose inside.
Even if you don’t read French, the cover alone communicates the mood and invites you into the world of Elmore Leonard’s fiction.
Check out this gallery and see if you don’t agree.
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