Saturday, May 5, 2018

Wherefore Art Thou Fabio?

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending an academic conference titled Researching the Romance at Bowling Green State University. There were many interesting presentations, but one of my favorites was called Wherefore Art Thou Fabio: 50 Years of Romance Cover Design. It should surprise no one that I’m a sucker for a good clinch cover (aka man clutching woman, both usually half naked). I should also mention that Fabio was my absolute favorite romance cover model. Keep in mind that this was before Fabio had become a caricature of himself. This was back in the 80’s/early 90’s when he was a nameless godlike man (I’m not kidding). So to say I was super pumped for the presentation is an understatement. While Fabio did feature in some of the covers shown, the presenter, Andrea J. Briggs from McDaniel University, didn’t focus on him. Instead her talk discussed how romance covers evolved and changed throughout the years. It was very interesting, even though I didn’t get a lot of Fabio. So with that in mind, I thought I’d share with you my absolute favorite romance cover. It’s from the book The Conqueror by Brenda Joyce, which is also one of my favorite romance novels. Do yourself a favor and pick up this incredibly non-feminist, non pc piece of work and revel in all of its glory. Extra points if you get the paperback with this cover. 