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Nov 07

I don't think Space Sheep is needed... then again maybe I have been desensitised!Click for full image

V Coupland Comments: Well, it should have been titled, Off all possible covers. There is everything on such a small space! Naked woman running around with out-of proportion limbs, marine monsters and eyes, very big, desincarnated eyes. Just missing a cat man with a gun, to be really a must!
Published 1960

Actually, that cover IS a classical work of art!I would touch it without protective gloves.I've seen worse. Far, far, worse.Interesting, but I would still read it in public.Middlng: Neither awful nor awfully goodWould not like to be seen reading that!Awful... just awful...That belongs in a gold-lame picture frame!Gah... my eyes are burning! Feels so good!Good Show Sir! (Average: 7.76 out of 10)
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27 Responses to “Of All Possible Worlds”

  1. Robert Moore Says:

    Submarines 0, flying saucers 1
    An impressionist cover that makes a clear impression, albeit not a favourable one….

  2. THX 1138 Says:

    Hey, I played this game on the ZX Spectrum back in the 80s! Ah, nostalgia.

  3. Tat Wood Says:

    The sad thing is, this wouldn’t really have stood out on the bookshelves of America in 1960 (from my other favourite time-sink http://www.retronaut.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/1.jpg ). Which is a shame: WIlliam Tenn is like a decaf Alfred Bester or a more subtle Robert Sheckley.

  4. Dead Stuff With Big Teeth Says:

    So many sharp teeth, and yet everyone seems so jolly! Is it the colour scheme? The google-eyes?

  5. FeârofMüsïc Says:

    I remember seeing my friends mother reading this very book, with that cover, and thinking it was some sort of sexual education book.Being that I was eight at the time it seemed a fairly accurate representation of what sex was about.

  6. Bibliomancer Says:

    This is like an optometrist’s eye chart in reverse, with the tiny type at the top. Only missing a single big “E” at the bottom. Does it qualify for “font problems”?

  7. B. Chiclitz Says:

    1. Is the tiny naked lady running because those are two naughty spermatazoa chasing her? Is that a parable of the human condition? Am I perhaps giving too much credit here?

    2. Are the fish and the sub in space or is the UFO underwater?

  8. Rags Says:

    @ B. Chiclitz – i think the UFO is coming to rescue the submarine, inside is a crew of catmen with laser guns!!

  9. B. Chiclitz Says:

    @Rags—thanks, mate, that explains everything! I’ll bet the catmen hold their laser guns like guitars too.

  10. HappyBookwyrm Says:

    Surreal clip-art runs amok!

  11. Stevie T Says:

    Looks like a bizarre and twisted version of the opening sequence for “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.”

  12. Adam Roberts Says:

    Eyeballs 9, William 10

  13. A.R.Yngve Says:

    Only Spongebob Squarepants is missing.

  14. fred Says:

    Just throw a bikini on the lady and it’s the plot for every SYFY movie ever made.

  15. Claire Says:

    An early contender for http://googlyeyebooks.tumblr.com/

  16. B. Chiclitz Says:

    And let us never forget the epitome of
    googly-eyedness.

  17. Jen Says:

    It’s William Tenn, but there’s only nine surreal objects on the cover. NINE. (This bothers me for some reason.)

  18. Tat Wood Says:

    @Jen: Maybe she’s running towards the vertical ‘Blanchard’.

  19. Anti-Sceptic Says:

    I bet this was an easy one for the Tag Wizard.

  20. Anti-Sceptic Says:

    How does “cleavage” qualify as a tag? I should see a line between two boobs. I would have gone with “side boob” in this case.

  21. Dead Stuff With Big Teeth Says:

    Right: Dick Cheney’s O-face.

  22. Perry Armstrong Says:

    Of All Possible Worlds…

    this is the one most reminiscent of the credits to Monsters Inc.

  23. RachelJ Says:

    Of All Possible Worlds…

    this is the one made from Fuzzy Felt.

  24. Dead Stuff With Big Teeth Says:

    Of All Possible Worlds…

    I AM WILL in TENN of them.

  25. Billy Awesome Says:

    Due to last week’s unfortunate construction paper incident, cover artists will no longer be allowed to participate in bring-your-child-to-work day.

  26. ump Says:

    A rare case of star billing for the cover artist: His name was William, and he was (very nearly) Ten.

  27. GSS ex-noob Says:

    @ump: GSS!

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