44DESERTS IN PAPERBACK ART
CREATIVE IDEA: desert trees made from organic parts. (^) CREATIVE IDEA: running and freedom in a desert land.
Out of Their Minds
1972, Sidgwick & Jackson paperback, UK
This novel is an example of the later and
lesser Simak, who had turned to crafting
whimsical and comedic novels that would
appeal to the new ‘hippy generation’ of the
early 1970s. The novels were entertaining
and well-made, but too genre-busting for
the defensive and hardline science-fiction
reviewers of the time. In this case the
creatures of folklore and myth come back
into the modern world to chide humanity
for its shoddy new commercial creations,
and for forgetting the old ways. The artist
is the great Bruce Pennington, and the
small figures are Don Quixote and his
esquire Pancho Panza. The themes of
death and journeying are evoked as well as
possible, not only by the innovative ‘brain
tree’ but also by the ‘teeth-road’.
The Airs of Earth
1975, NEL, USA (UK had the same cover)
The very popular story collection from the
popular British writer. NEL paired Aldiss with
the best paperback cover artist of the time,
Bruce Pennington, for this iconic 1970s cover.
Pennington’s work was commonly seen on
paperbacks of the time, not only science-fiction
but also weird fantasy collections from Clark
Ashton Smith and Frank Belknap Long.
Sadly there's been not yet been a
compehensive printed Catalogue Raisonne of
Pennington’s work, even though a Kickstarter
would surely fund one in just a few hours.
Instead there are only the out-of-print and
highly prized collections Eschatus and
Ultraterranium, a Bruce Pennington Portfolio of
twelve prints, and a high-quality little Paper
Tiger Miniatures book titled Bruce Pennington.