You can't always tell a book by its cover, but you can occasionally tell a politician by his or her book. Former House member and samurai Allen West is coming out with a book next April that sets a new gold standard for book covers. The "American Ronin's" book comes complete with a screeching bald eagle bike decal and the kind of bombastic title that we've come to expect from our political class.
The full cover is here:
West is far from the first to try and make a splash with a cover. Here are some recent highlights.
Media personality, former vice presidential candidate and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is an expert at the book cover. She adds a good mixture of poses, subtle clothing, and America-themed jewelry in both of her books. And worry not, politicians thinking about writing a memoir in the future, you can mix it up by either looking straight at the camera — as in America By Heart — or look to the distance with a touch of hope in your eyes — as in Going Rogue.
Now, if you're as outlandish and charismatic as former Godfather's Pizza CEO and Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, you can get away with a book cover that literally screams at the reader. Use an exclamation point in the book title! (This is Herman Cain!) And why stop there? Put an inherently false statement in the subtitle, like for instance, My Journey to the White House.