Paperback Art of James Avati

James Avati (1912-2995) earned renown as a pre-eminent paperback cover artist in an illustrious 40-year career that began during the paperback revolution of the 1950s. Among the myriad softcover books that packed the wire racks at newsstands and drug store every month, Avati's covers stood out. Avati images were - and remain - compelling potent: teens on the threshold of adulthood, tight-lipped city dwellers, ruined farmers, amorous couples, comic rogues, failed husbands and wives, happy campers.