CHARLOTTE SIMMONS LOSES HER COVER SPOT

Tom Wolfe’s novel does away with title

In an unusual publishing move, Tom Wolfe’s most-recent novel,

will be printed without the title on the cover of its paperback edition — just its author’s name in giant letters.

The paperback cover of the sexually charged tale of contemporary U. S. college life contains only Wolfe’s name and a picture of a young woman in a green dress, presumably to symbolize Charlotte Simmons.

“ We are using Tom Wolfe’s name as a brand, rather than the title of the book. He is an icon himself,” said Tanya Farrell, publicity director for Picador USA, which is printing more than two million copies of the 738-page novel in which the 74-year-old writer tries to infiltrate the minds of American college students.

The back cover contains reviews of the book but doesn’t name the novel, although the name is available on the page following the cover.

The book sold more than 775,000 copies in hardcover, making it the 11th best- selling novel of 2004, but critics gave it mixed reviews and wondered why the celebrated author could not find adults to write about.

“Whoever missed the book the first time around should know that Wolfe has written for a new demographic,” Farrell said.

For his part, Wolfe is giving interviews to college newspapers and doing joint readings with Touré, a 34-year-old writer who once worked for MTV and is idolized by college-age readers.

Reuters