Incidentally, the American version of the cover doesn't grab me the same way. It must be the “warm tones elicit warm responses” phenomenon. Or maybe it’s the typography.

I think it's likely just a lack of attention to detail, or it's a reference to the "river" in the title.

More covers...

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=%22john+irving%22+cover&form=QBIR&qs...

It definitely draws the eye. Fonts are rarely that badly kerned and I can't imagine anyone doing that on purpose.

Kerning all caps presents many challenges and especially with a font that has such variation in widths. If I had the font, I'd love to re-kern this and see what could be done to improve the kerning throughout.

It is a very evocative design. Too bad about the type.

Interesting how different the covers feel even though the central motif is the same.
I'm curious, how warm/cold is the novel, or: which cover matches its tone better?

And while I don't think I count as having «extensive knowledge» of kerning: Yes that "RV" combination does not look very good. I don't have the font so can't comment if that's the original kerning… but I'd have brought them closer together. BTW the kerning in the title looks uh, suboptimal to my eyes too, or maybe I should say T W IS T ED. :-\

Edit:

"or it's a reference to the "river" in the title."

Ha!

I did some playing around in Photoshop and it's an improvement, but that is a bear of a kerning assignment. You fix one combination and it affects the look of another. I'd definitely recommend another font.

Nina, to answer your question about the temperature of the novel: several seasons are covered in the course of the book – several decades, in fact. I haven't finished reading the book, but two pivotal moments have already taken place in icy conditions, so I can see why the snowy landscape is appropriate. The warmer, antique look fits too, though.

I have read that Irving takes great interest in the design of his books. His was apparently disturbed that as the writer, his input was not so greatly valued when it came to Hollywood adaptations of his works. He has had to struggle to have his say in the movie business. Actually, he wrote a book about that.

Perhaps the issues of "suboptimal" kerning on a Canadian version of his latest novel were not vetted by the author. On the paperback edition, maybe.

We have got now an awful vertical line made by left side \H\ and \I\. Then the letters \VIN\ were shifted to the right, I think...

Thanks for going to the trouble of wrestling that bear, Kristin. Interesting to see how it can be improved. I think the R in Sackers Light Classic Roman is beautiful – too bad it causes problems.

"We have got now an awful vertical line made by left side \H\ and \I\. Then the letters \VIN\ were shifted to the right, I think..."

True, Jane. It is an interesting challenge with lots of wrong answers. I'm not happy with a lot of the combos.

"Thanks for going to the trouble of wrestling that bear, Kristin."

I kern type for a living, so it was a nice diversion from the work I *should* be doing.