On this book cover a man in overalls stands with his arm proudly slung over a rusty old Allis Chalmers tractor.
His chest is puffed out like he’s telling us that ‘Hell yes this is my tractor.’
What I think is interesting about the cover of ‘Old Tractors And The Men Who Love Them’ by Roger Welsch is that unlike the title (which puts ‘the men who love them’ in smaller italics print) it gives equal treatment to both the tractor and the man who owns it.
However, the book cover as a whole left me a bit unsure if this book was purely serious or if the intent was to take a more humorous look at the collecting of old tractors.
Just sayin, a lot of times books are 100% serious but a look at the covers for these same books can be pretty damn giggle inducing.
And the subtitle of ‘How to keep your tractors happy and your family running’ makes it sound like this could actually be an instructional book for farmers.
So…. is this book serious or what? Time to head over to Amazon and see what the description and reviews have to say about it. The description answered my question right away:
Roger Welsch at his best! You’ve seen him on CBS’s Sunday Morning and youve read his essays in Successful Farming and other popular magazines.
Now you can enjoy Welsch’s fun-filled essays in this witty collection of stories that poke fun at his favorite past-time.
Filled with light-hearted tips for saving your marriage from ruin while cleaning your tractor parts in the dishwasher, and other clever restoration techniques. Down-home humor every tractor enthusiast can relate to!
Ah, maybe I didn’t quite get the tone of the cover because I’m not exactly what you’d call a tractor collector. I’m thinking that this book is probably a staple for all those folks out there who are big into tractors though.
As for me, after reading the description this book actually sounds pretty interesting. Don’t know if I’d ever buy it but if I saw it at a friend’s house I’d definitely take a look and read some of the stories. Unfortunately that’s pretty unlikely to happen since as far as I know, none of my friends are men who love rusty old tractors.
Hi there,
My name's Anita and I'm fascinated by the art and storytelling of book covers.
This blog is dedicated to the most interesting book covers that I come across.
I love to chat so feel free to leave comments if you got 'em :).
On Pinterest 
“Old Tractors and the Men Who Love Them” should be at your local library. If you pass up reading this gem, it is your own fault!
To be a bit more specific, the book is an amusing view of life in general from the perspective of someone trying to make a chunk of old machinery work. There is a mix of serious and silly observations covering a wide range of experiences (and how they relate to fixing a “stuck” tractor motor), which is exactly what the cover of the book conveys. But you’ll have to read the book to find out what “stuck” means.