The Iconic Covers of Paul Bacon
A Master of Mid-Century Design is Dead at 91
Iconic designer Paul Bacon, renowned for his unique, unforgettable book jackets and album covers, died of a stroke on Monday, in Fishkill, NY. Bacon is perhaps best known for his covers for Catch-22, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Portnoy’s Complaint, employing a playful minimalism that was often imitated over the next quarter century.
Here are some of our favorite Paul Bacon covers, beginning with his first success, for Meyer Levin’s Compulsion.
Compulsion, Meyer Levin (1956)
The Big Drink, E.J. Kahn Jr. (1960)
Catch-22, Joseph Heller (1962)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey (1960)
An American Dream, Norman Mailer (1965)
Portnoy’s Complaint, Philip Roth (1969)
We Bombed in New Haven, Joseph Heller (1969)
Saint Jack, Paul Theroux (1973)
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig (1974)
