Column: Hefty book covers A to Z of Zappa’s music

A new book, “The Big Note,” chronicles all 1,663 Frank Zappa recordings, including a few from his Inland Valley years. It’s for diehards only. That leads off Wednesday’s column, followed by reader reactions to my column last month about not being to ride a bike, a Culture Corner and a Valley Vignette.

Let me tell you about the photo that accompanies the column. After deciding Tuesday morning on deadline to lead with the Zappa item, I was faced with how to illustrate a column about a book. For online purposes, we are pretty much limited to horizontal photos, as a vertical photo takes up about a foot of space and looks too funky. So a photo of strictly the cover was out. What to do, what to do…

Suddenly, a brainstorm: I would use the giant, vintage map on the wall by my desk as a backdrop. Without leaving my chair, I held up the book and positioned it to get both Pomona and Cucamonga’s names in the frame. (The map stops short of Ontario.) It took three frames, as the first one had my thumb over the author’s name (see above) and the second had too much glare off the shiny cover. Secrets behind the columns!

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