I just discovered these cover redesigns that artist Amy Fleisher did for Penguin in 2010 in celebration for the company’s 75^th anniversary. (I know I’m late, but whatever, this is my blog, I do what I want.) She also made custom plushies and USB drives based on the penguin designs. Well, except for the invisible penguin—too bad, because that would have been a neat trick. You can click through to check ’em out.

I always get confused about which Invisible Man people are referring to when they talk about the book—H.G. Well’s sci-fi classic about, well, exactly what you’d think, or Ralph Ellison’s novel about a disenfranchised black man and the issues facing African Americans in the 1930s-ish. (Yes, I know H.G. Well’s officially has a ‘The’ in front of it; somehow that never seems to change my reaction.) Obviously I realize quite quickly which book we’re talking about based on context, but there’s still that first half-second of confusion after whatever statement follows the words “Invisible Man.” Because somehow I always, always manage to assume we’re talking about the other book. Always.

It feels, not so much like catching the wrong end of a stick, more like getting poked in the eye by the stick and being momentarily half-blinded.

Both very good books, both very, very different.