No matter what the contents are, the covers of contemporary fiction are sexy. Regrettably, some prestigious publishers have also been pursuing this trend.

The second Vietnamese edition of Alessandro Barrico’s best-selling novel “Silk”, published by the Nha Nam company and the Vietnamese Writers’ Association Publishing House, has a half-nude girl on the cover.

Also published by Nha Nam and the Vietnamese Writers’ Association Publishing House, the cover of the first collection of short stories by Nguyen Nguyen Phuoc features a standing naked woman and a half-nude man with a cigarette in his mouth (this is a painting by Vietnamese French painter Macelino Truong).

“Tinh oi la tinh”, a translation of Elfriede Jelinek’s novel, issued by Nha Nam and the Da Nang Publishing House, may boast the sexiest cover – a naked woman showing her buttocks.

The novel “Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers”, translated from a Chinese book by Quach Tieu Lo and published by the Women’s Publishing House, also has a cover featuring a naked girl looking over her shoulder.

The novel “Khach Khong Moi” (Uninvited Guest) by Chinese writer Geling Yan, published by Phuong Nam book company and the Writers’ Association Publishing House, also has a sexy cover with a nude girl lying on her stomach, with bowls and chopsticks laid out on her back.

Many other fiction works are also covered by sexy girls.

Notably, these sexy images have no relation to the contents of these books. Many books with sexy covers don’t even address sex or women’s issues.

For books about sex, sexy covers are natural. However, the covers of the original editions of the works are not as sexy as the Vietnamese editions.

Publishers and book traders say that they design sexy covers for all books because in Vietnam, only “eye-catching” books sell well. Some say that the covers of books in Vietnam have reached the point of “pornography”.

“We make our book covers dirty,” said an anonymous painter. His complaint should be considered by publishers.

VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre