Episode 20: Peter Mendelsund

Peter Mendelsund began his career as a concert pianist, and reinvented himself as a graphic designer, now creative director, almost by accident. He came to book design—first as a reader, then as an independent bookstore employee, and ultimately, as a book cover designer, which he practiced full time at PenguinRandom House. He is presently the Creative Director of The Atlantic, and in his spare time, he writes novels, the second of which, The Delivery, is currently out on hardcover from FSG. For The Interview in this episode, J.C. Gabel talks with Mendelsund about his last nonfiction book, The Look of the Book: Jackets, Covers & Art at the Edges of Literature, published by Ten Speed Press, which he co-authored with literary scholar David Alworth. What began as a Harvard lecture has become a gorgeous coffee table book examining the artwork of book cover design through the modern age; it is an overview of trends, insights, and back stories, many told through other voices from the literary and design worlds. It is also an invaluable tool for anyone interested in book jacket design and its rich and colorful history.