Buddhists say that desire is the root of all suffering. To that, I would add that these roots grow long and deep. Witness: I want to publish a book. I want to publish a book with Knopf. I want to publish a book with Knopf so that Chip Kidd can design the book jacket. I want to publish a book with Knopf so that Chip Kidd can design the book jacket whereupon we two will fall madly in love and live in a spacious New York City apartment, living off my royalties alone. Alas, until then... suffering.
Much in the way that Vaughan Oliver changed album covers, Chip Kidd revolutionized book jackets. Think Jurassic Park. Think The Secret History. I rarely buy art books, but each time I open his Book One: 1986-2006, I'm dazzled by the way he juxtaposes image (both found and created), text and color to create a new narrative. It's one thing to read a book and enjoy the beautiful prose (or, conversely, to have the pleasure of throwing it across the room in disgust), but to have the physical object match the interior content -- isn't this what sublimity is all about?
So: author photo taken by Marion Ettlinger (who took the picture of Chip above), book lovingly wrapped around a Chip Kidd design -- who needs nirvana when you've obtained perfection?
Possible positive boyfriend aspects: Since Kidd is also a comic book otaku, I could finally catch up on 10+ years' worth of mind-dizzying storylines in the X-Men (since I stopped buying comic books). Ancillary benefits include: awesome business cards, wowie-zowie greeting cards for Christmas, and an endless supply of free books and ARCs from Knopf. Not to mention: Kidd is himself an author. I wouldn't have to go past my own door to be able to seethe in literary jealousy.
Possible negative boyfriend aspects: I'm pretty sure his current boyfriend, poet J. D. McClatchey, could beat the tar out of me.
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