![]() Toni Morrison on the back cover of God Help the Child (2015) Not just snapshots, mind-but the actual publicity photographs used on their books, or in some cases, their websites. For true “then and now” action, I’ve limited the scope to living authors, so with that in mind, feel free to add on to the list below. This is all to say that I have recently spent some time digging up the early author photos of a handful of famous writers, and comparing them to their current (or recent) author photos. But they always tell you something-especially when you can compare them across the years, to see how an author’s self-presentation has evolved over time. They are frequently embarrassing, as an artistic form. Author photos may be good or bad, either objectively or in terms of sales. We may do more than just recognize them-in some cases, these photos may even change how, and to what extent, we appreciate their work. We grow to recognize authors so well by their author photos (particularly now that those photos may also be attached to their tweets and other electronic traces). ![]() Plus, there’s often the original author photo, which might be years or decades old. ![]() ![]() ![]() One of my favorite things about skulking around old bookstores is the possibility of chancing upon a first edition of a beloved author’s early work and looking at it in its original context-not repackaged nor redesigned, not yet Made into a Major Motion Picture, and still boasting the kind of blurbs you get before you’re a literary superstar (honest, I mean, or as honest as blurbs get). ![]()
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