The artist Ai Kitahara’s work is often described as a series of traps or visual devices intended to catch the spectator red-handed in the act of curiosity. The cover includes a die-cut human form that reveals sandpaper behind. It is difficult to resist touching the surface beyond the form to feel what the material is, and when one does, one is “trapped” by its unpleasant abrasive surface.

In the genre of die-cut covers peeking through to printed endsheets, this cover offers a twist—a look onto a piece of sandpaper, adding tactility to a cover that also offers a sense of depth. The purposefully misregistered type on the title echoes the gradient on the spine.