There is no doubt that the Anagrama publishing house knows what it is up to when it comes to designing a book to make it beautiful, appetizing. Affordable. And if not, just check the design of one of our favorites at Postposmo: the Anagram Compacts of the eighty six stories by Quim Monzo. Simple, direct and attractive. The Barcelona publishing house has just turned 50 years old. We take advantage of the anniversary to write this necessary text that the people have been demanding since time immemorial.
? Anagrama compacts: the best books in Spanish
What writer has not dreamed of publishing in the editorial Anagram your book manuscript? With 50 years behind him, Anagrama has established itself as the most prestigious publisher in Spain or, at least, the one that presents a better quality average in its literary novelties. The best books in Spanish are in Anagrama.
Whether in Hispanic Narratives (the greys), in Arguments (blacks) or Narrative Overview (yellow), with an Anagram book it is difficult to go wrong. The time has come to unravel one of the key mysteries that everyone asks each day in an incessant and painful way: What do the color combinations of the Anagram Compacts mean?
If José Manuel Lara Hernández, founder of the Spanish publishing empire par excellence (Planeta) and father of the current president, José Manuel Lara Bosch baptized the Panorama de Narrativas collection as the “yellow fever"Due to their great reception on the new releases tables, what should we nickname the Anagrama Compact books? To understand the meaning of colors In these books, it is interesting to analyze the background behind their design.
The Anagrama Compact collection has always stood out for its colours.
? Why do Compacts have so many colorful designs?
What is the criteria that Anagrama follows so that In Cold Blood is red? Why does Nabokov have so many pink books like, for example, Ada or the ardorOne might think that it was all about sales or the author's prestige; that the color was a status symbol, with red being the gold medal. There they are. Paul Auster, Roberto Bolaño or Enrique Vila-Matas with its collections dominated by vermillion. But one day, you discovered a green or blue book written by a red author, and... STUPOR, your whole world fell apart. You had to construct another theory.
Transcendent subject where there are, without a doubt; light enough not to distress you in your day-to-day life, but present enough in your life not to leave you alone: “Come on, look, this is new, look what an exotic color they've given it. Look what they are huh.” Surely many readers of this post are beginning to get impatient. Forgiveness. Let's get down to business.
We sent an email to Anagrama and the mystery vanishes with the answer they give us from the publishing house's communication department:
“They don't really have any meaning. The decision belongs to Jorge Herralde (founder and editorial director of Anagrama)
Consternation.
? Lots of red in Anagram
But since in Postposmo we are moved by hunger and the spirit of leaving no shadow unlit, we delve into the matter. This is not going to stay like this, we think. What's with so much red? Is it a hint from Don Anagrama?
Jorge Herralde attend us by mail:
“What prevails is the illustration and from it we choose a background, with elastic criteria. Among the various options proposed by the graphic artist in each title, I choose the one that seems most pertinent to me. If anything, there is a recurring rule: when the illustrations are black and white, the background color is almost always Ferrari red”
It is enough to do a little memory to confirm: yes, the 86 stories de Quim Monzo, The Empire de Ryszard kapuscinski o Wish to be punk, Bethlehem Gopegui, all have monochrome illustration and red spines in their editions of Compactos Anagrama. Good old Herralde not only reads all the books from his publisher but also has the final decision on the cover illustrations. If we look, the illustrations usually have a dominant color that is the one that finally adorns the covers.
Outfield speed is a clear example:
Speed of the gardens, by Eloy Tizón and published in Anagrama.
Well, the thing was simple. So much for this.
For asking, "And is there any reason why books like Wilt or Ada or Burning are pink?" «The dissimilarity that Wilt and Ada are or the ardor indicate that it is a question of pure chance. A rose is a rose is a rose, as Gertrude Stein diagnosed”, comments Herralde.
? Anagrama pocket collection: putting order in the narrative since 1989
The one with Anagrama's pocket books it is a pop collection, young and/or daring. The label matters little because the only really valid one is that of Compacts: it is enough to look at a couple of them to understand the intention and consistency with which the publisher has been putting together the collection for decades.
The catalog "is basically nourished by the best titles from the editorial fund", as we read in the book that Anagrama published on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, where it is also stated that Compactos is "surely the first collection in Spain systematically dedicated to the best contemporary literature.” They are not all that they are, but they are, etc.
Inaugural catalog of the collection
The Anagram Compact Collection premiered in 1989 with
- The talent of Mr. Ripley (Patricia Highsmith)
- Factotum (Charles Bukowski)
- Naked lunch (William S. Burroughs)
- tumultuous meeting (Tom Sharpe).
Then, each book cost between 600 and 800 pesetas. Today, prices are still quite reasonable, dancing between nine and fourteen euros (some, more) depending on the number of pages. Overcoming the measures of the first years of the nineties, at present around 15 new Compacts are published each year.
? Cheap alternatives to Anagrama
If there is any collection capable of disputing the first place, it is that of the fantastic DeBolsillo, by Random House (Alfaguara included), with its sober salmon-colored spines and somewhat more modern typography and printing technique. Among the authors of it stand out Kafka, Cortázar, Hemingway, Dickens, Austen, Borges, Roth, Joyce, To name a few names from a very long list that could get out of hand. It is in this collection that we find the formidable Manhattan Transferby John Dos Passos.
Which one is better of the two publishers? And what else gives. Each one plays in similar and complementary leagues. In 2018, an upward streak persisted that has lasted several years and 4.663 pocket books were published in Spain (a thousand more than in 2014). It is not surprising: the cheapest books on the market are also those that have the most positive of criticism: that of quality endorsed by time.
Long live the multicolored plague.
PS: We recommend this link to Librotea where a great compilation of some of the best Anagrama books is made, taking advantage of its 50th anniversary.