Inspired by the season’s innumerable "best of" lists (and blooming off an earlier post in which I analyzed poets' faces), I decided to take stock of some of my favorite author photos of 2011. For me, great author photos are all about discomfort. The photo shouldn’t convey information about the subject so much as force the viewer to feel uneasy, maybe even squeamish. The goal of the author photo is to make the viewer believe the author has something the viewer must know, that not purchasing and reading the author’s book will have some obscure but detrimental consequence. Here are my top picks for 2011!

Stephen King (11/22/63)

How magnificent is King. I mean, really. Yes, he is practiced in the art of the author photo, but to maintain this level of intensity, after all these years? Half-scowling, half-questioning, his face accosts us—yet his lips remain open. Plus the slight tenderness to his right eye? We can’t know what he’s thinking, but we know he can destroy us and we would do well to do whatever he asks.

Chad Harbach (The Art of Fielding)

Photo: hachettebookgroup.com

Perhaps he is watching a lesser man making love to an ex-girlfriend, or standing by as someone pisses on a favorite shoe. Whatever his sadness, Harbach will keep watching. I must emphasize that his watching is not mere passivity; Harbach will endure. Harbach is one among us who will eat the most shit, without complaint, until the last, when he will finally triumph over us all.

Francine Prose (My New American Life)

Photo: nytimes.com

You want to know why Francine Prose is the only female on this list? It’s because Francine Prose has one of the only female author photos to communicate more than pleasantness. There were so many awesome women publishing awesome things in 2011! A huge abundance! But their author photos were shitty and boring. (And don't even get me started on Joan Didion.) The art of the author photo involves arousing a kind of curiosity, an uneasiness, an intrigue, in the reader. Take note, ladies—Francine Prose is your competition.

Russell Banks (Lost Memory of Skin)

Photo: nytimes.com

Is this not a triumph? Has there ever been an author photo with such pure, unscripted emotion? Banks could cry at any moment! But the photo conveys more than just his sadness. His eyes reach out to us—he is pleading. We either need to do something or we have failed to do something. Fuck. Banks is right. We really fucked it up this time.

Jeffrey Eugenides (The Marriage Plot)

Photo: observer.com

Do you guys think Jeffrey Eugenides might be coming on to me? I think he totally might want to make out or something. He’s just got this confidence. I think he might be walking over! Oh my god! Do I look okay? Do I have anything in my teeth? Um, and ps. he’s on a fucking billboard! Billboard. Times Square. Rock Star. Done.