The 2008 TIME 100 Finalists

Read about the leaders, artists, enterpreneurs and thinkers who, in your opinion, deserve a spot on this year's TIME 100 —Scott Brown and Michelle Kung

CHIP KIDD

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AGE: 44
OCCUPATION: Associate art director at Alfred A. Knopf, novelist
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 0

PRO: Opinions vary, but Kidd is generally considered the go-to guy for book cover design. And his second career as a novelist got a nice boost this year with good notices for his latest, The Learners.

CON: As is often the case with replicable success, Kidd's book-jacket dominance is provoking backlash. (Updike has called his stuff "monstrously ugly.") Soon, he'll be the orthodoxy some new Kidd will rebel against.

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