…Judge A Book By Its Cover

“The Great Gatsby” doesn’t hit theaters for two more weeks, but it’s already got people talking.

The release of Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation of the classic novel has created all kinds of chatter (both good and bad) over this nearly 90-year-old novel.

The already released movie tie-in paperback (pictured below) has Gatsby devotees crying foul.

Scoffing at movie tie-in covers is a time-honored tradition for well-meaning book worms. I too am guilty of being exceptionally proud of my original artwork paperbacks.

There’s a certain amount of pride that comes with knowing that you loved the book before it was commercialized and glossed over by Hollywood.

However, it’s hard to scoff at the results produced by this glitzy new version. It may be plastered with the entire principle cast of the film (a far cry from the original above to the right), but it’s produced a huge surge in sales.

Given that it’s on every high school’s list of required reading, it’s had pretty steady sales. However, the films impending release has caused the book’s sales to skyrocket.

It’s currently number two on Amazon’s bestsellers’ list.

Whether you’re a fan of the new cover or not, I think we can all agree that that’s pretty impressive.

And maybe we shouldn’t judge the new arrivals to the Gatsby party too harshly, even if they only came to catch a glimpse of Mr. DiCaprio. The important thing is that they came.

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