>>>The title is “The Post American World” and...this photo is suspect as a photoshop job.<<<
So I downloaded the photo and looked at it using my version of Photoshop CS4.
I also saw the cut-off title of the book. That’s suspect to me.
What’s also suspect is that the original picture shows a mass of pixelation when I blow it up to 1200 percent, but the inset picture at the same resolution shows the letters clearly.
As an old photojournalist myself, your comments about shadows and so forth also make sense.
I’m with you, then, in the “suspicious” category.