ReadMOre program brings author Jane Smiley to Columbia

COLUMBIA — The cover of a book usually serves as an emblem of a novel for its readers. Jane Smiley's "A Thousand Acres" may throw some readers off because it has at least seven different covers, all portraying different things. But Kathleen Butterly Nigro, one of the founders of the ReadMOre program and a professor at University of Missouri-St. Louis, pointed out that the different book covers portray different and equally important aspects of the book. One cover shows a woman surrounded by grain, another has a quilt on the cover and another a hay field with one bale.