Meg Wolitzer: “I don’t need to remember anything about signifiers to understand that just like the jumbo, block-lettered masculine typeface, feminine cover illustrations are code. Certain images, whether they summon a kind of Walker Evans poverty nostalgia or offer a glimpse into quilted domesticity, are geared toward women as strongly as an ad for ‘calcium plus D.’ These covers might as well have a hex sign slapped on them, along with the words: ‘Stay away, men! Go read Cormac ÂMcCarthy instead!'”