Good come-back line

[lsanderson]

Such vividness can have unintended results. In Mr. Kidd's monograph, Augusten Burroughs describes an exchange, overhead at an airport bookstore, about the paperback version of his memoir "Dry," published by Picador last year. Mr. Kidd, whose title at Knopf is associate art director, has always had the freedom to design for whomever he liked (he is also an editor at large for Pantheon's comics division). The book chronicles Mr. Burroughs's experiences with alcoholism and recovery, and Mr. Kidd designed a cover whose type was soaked, so that it bled in rivulets down the frontspiece.

"A woman picked up the book," the only copy in the store, Mr. Burroughs writes, "and brought it up to the clerk. She said: 'Excuse me? But do you have another copy of this book? This one looks like it got all wet.' The clerk said: 'No, I'm sorry. All of them were wet like that.'"

The Book on a Graphics Superhero By PENELOPE GREEN