The All-American paperback, flipping the bird

The good people at Norton sent me copies of the paperback of The All-American. And I have to say that I love the cover. The middle finger, drawn on one of those handfolded letters that used to travel during classes in school (a skill that may have been lost to the sands of time) speaks to the edge that many of these characters carry.

But, I got to thinking: I don't know of any other books with the middle finger on the cover, so I decided to do some digging.

Galileo's Middle Finger by Alice Dreger has one on the cover, but it is blurred.

Middle Finger Happiness by Sharon Lee Zapata has a legit middle finger.

And, if Wikipedia is to be believed, the first middle finger photographed is this one:

By F.L. Howe, photographer. - Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Public Domain, Link

That's "Old Hoss Radbourn," a pitcher for the Boston Beaneaters, flipping the bird to the cameraman or perhaps someone on the New York Giants roster. Wikipedia doesn't seem clear on the recipient. I'd like think that it's for all of us.

Anyway, if you haven't gotten your copy of the book, you can get it from April 2 from fine bookstores everywhere, especially from your lovely hometown indie bookstore.