Why is there an octopus on the cover of Antifragile?
Mischievous author confuses designers.
The covers in one of the paperback reprints of Nassim Taleb’s Incerto series have neat designs featuring animals connected to the books.
Fooled by Randomness has a black cat, for superstition.
The Black Swan obviously has a black swan.
The Bed of Procrustes has an owl, for wisdom.
Antifragile has an octopus, for… ?!
Why is there an octopus on the cover of Antifragile?
Reddit user ‘NotTheAnts’ had a compelling conjecture:
Presumably because octopuses can regrow severed limbs…but doesn’t that make them robust, rather than antifragile?
If so, pretty ironic that the publishers committed the ontological error that the book chiefly warns against. Willing to be corrected though, maybe I’m missing something.
But the reason has more to do with Taleb being a character than the cover designers confusing—like many others do—robustness with antifragility.
Apparently, Taleb is a big fan of squid ink pasta and when the publisher asked for input on the cover, he replied “squid.”
So there you have it: Antifragile features an octopus because its author enjoys eating squid ink.
I guess when your book goes through as many reprints as Taleb’s has, you can afford to sneak in a nod to your favorite food on the cover.
He really loves squid ink pasta…
