Raymond Queneau wove eight years of researching literary “madmen” into his novelChildren of Clay by describing their philosophies, phonetic speech patterns, and whimsical personalities juxtaposed with the mundanity of everyday life. Mary Reynolds, riffing on this theme, used two different colors of leather for the front and back covers. Running down the middle of the spine is a strip of stark black leather, which gives the impression of two separate books.

Reynolds placed Queneau’s name directly in the center of the spine, so that the “N” of “Queneau” is positioned exactly over the black leather band. Reynolds thus made sure that Queneau is at the center of the story, hidden between the lines yet celebrated all the same.