The Learners-
Chip Kidd
Once in a
while, a book cover startles you enough that you either wind up purchasing the
book from the store, or borrowing it from the library. This happened to me with
the novel, “The Learners” by coincidentally, famed book cover designer Chip
Kidd. For starters, I knew he had designed the covers of novels written by
famed authors Michael Ondjaate and Michael Crichton, but had no idea he was a
writer himself-only after having bought a copy of “The Learners”- only because
I saw the novel’s bizarre cover at the Strand Bookstore.
How I miss
The Strand, and walking inside that wonderful store during hot summer days in
Manhattan. But that’s another story.
I just
finished reading “The Learners”- which happened to be a sequel to Kidd’s “The
Cheese Monkeys” though thank goodness, is a stand-alone book. I wouldn’t have
bought “The Learners” had I known it was a sequel. But it was thanks to that
intriguing book cover and design.
The book
is about book designer, Happy- who gets a job as an assistant at a New Haven
mom and pop ad agency after graduating from college. At the same time, he finds
himself participating in a series of disturbing and true experiments conducted
by psychologist Stanley Milligram- asked to administer electroshock therapy to “learners”
who failed to answer questions from memory correctly. Instances of
lighthearted 60s banter reminiscent of Stanley Donen films of the 1960s and of
the TV show “Mad Men” come into light, contrasted with the true story of
Stanley Milligram’s experiments make this an interesting and dark work
overall; making it true and enjoyable summer
reading.
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