{"id":90878,"date":"2015-10-14T17:16:13","date_gmt":"2015-10-14T21:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=90878"},"modified":"2015-10-14T17:16:13","modified_gmt":"2015-10-14T21:16:13","slug":"books-by-covers-et-cetera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/10\/14\/books-by-covers-et-cetera\/","title":{"rendered":"Books by Covers, Et Cetera"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

For a kid, it\u2019s better than your name in lights: your name in appliqu\u00e9.<\/p><\/div>\n

Back when the world was new and there weren\u2019t three Sadies in every kindergarten class, I worshipped the Lillian Vernon catalog. My love for the mail-order tome was purely theoretical; although it arrived in the mailbox regularly, we never ordered anything. But the pages filled with personalized things\u2014pink-dotted linens, pencil cases, dolls, beanbag chairs, Christmas stockings\u2014seemed wonderful to a child who had never found a keychain with her name on it. I remember in the late eighties the name Madison often appeared in the pictures, rendered in a round, admirably legible embroidered font.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That was the primary lure for me, and I\u2019m sure for others, too. But the catalog opened my eyes to a whole realm of adult luxury beyond monograms. Hammocks. Seasonal wreaths made of artificial flowers. Eyeshades. The world seemed so full of things, both exciting and overwhelming. One item made a particular impression on me: a book cover for paperbacks. Was it needlepoint? Or am I conflating it with the hymnals at my grandmother\u2019s church? Either way, I know the copy advertised its ability to\u00a0\u201chide that trashy romance novel!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

This, in particular, seems now to date the moment. That a book could be a guilty pleasure is quaint enough; that it was a physical object requiring decorous camouflage is (almost) beyond remembering. Even at the time, I remember thinking that such a disguise would surely only tell onlookers that you were reading something trashy. It felt both exhibitionistic and furtive\u2014like a book codpiece. I really wanted it.<\/p>\n

The other day, I went online to try to find one. I thought how it would gratify my childish desires while simultaneously thwarting CoverSpy. But I still can\u2019t find it\u2014at least, not as it was in my memory. When I went to the Lillian Vernon Web site, among the personalized iPad covers and phone cases and, yes, seasonal decor, I found\u00a0this<\/a>. Times change.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sadie Stein is contributing editor of\u00a0<\/em>The Paris Review, and the\u00a0<\/em>Daily‘s correspondent.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back when the world was new and there weren\u2019t three Sadies in every kindergarten class, I worshipped the Lillian Vernon catalog. My love for the mail-order tome was purely theoretical; although it arrived in the mailbox regularly, we never ordered anything. But the pages filled with personalized things\u2014pink-dotted linens, pencil cases, dolls, beanbag chairs, Christmas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[435,14204,8892,13623,14961,19788,19789,9295,14185],"class_list":["post-90878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-book-covers","tag-catalogs","tag-childhood","tag-growing-up","tag-guilty-pleasures","tag-lillian-vernon","tag-monogramming","tag-names","tag-the-eighties"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBetter Than Your Name in Lights? 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