The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd

Speaking of Chip Kidd, did you know he wrote a novel in 2002? It’s called The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel in Two Semesters. It’s about a young man who goes to art school, and what follows are the usual university satirical hijinks: a cruel professor, meaningless classroom exercises, a love interest. To tell you the truth, there wasn’t much in the way of content that was memorable to me, despite its positive feedback from the critics and other readers.

I am proud to say that I own a first edition hardcover of this book, and I love it because, well, imagine if Chip Kidd wrote a book and then got to design an entire book however he wanted. You’d have The Cheese Monkeys.

The first thing you notice about the book is its dustjacket. Instead of wrapping around the entire book, this sleeve slips onto the front cover only. According to Kidd in Chip Kidd Work: 1986 – 2006, every one of these sleeves had to be slipped onto the covers by hand. The titling is hand-lettered by Chris Ware. When you slip the jacket off, the cover design is different underneath: there is just the word “the,” a drawing of a wedge of cheese, and a drawing of a few monkeys.

Without having opened the book yet, you might then notice ink on the fore-edge (the edge opposite the spine). If you bend the pages one way, there is one message. If you bend the pages the other, you read a different message. There is also text printed on the very edges of the hard cover, which are Kidd’s acknowledgements.

Inside, the copyright information is printed in a single horizontal line that runs for eight pages. Then comes the title page, which takes of three pages. You have to turn a page to read the entire title. The body of the book is more straightforward, although it still definitely does not look like a normal book layout. The margins are huge, the page numbers quite prominent, and the text runs all the way onto the last endpaper.

The whole thing is very unusual, striking, and attention-getting. It’s a wonderful art piece to have on my shelf, even though I can’t remember what the book was about. These days, designer furnishings are all the rage. This is a true work of art.

The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd

Tags: cover+design book+design Chip+Kidd