misblurbing

[Dominique]

I just wanted to share this amusing article from NY Times about the practices (and malpractices) of blurbing from reviews on book covers/ads.

Here's the link:

www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/books/review/Alford.t.html?pagewanted=1&8bu&emc=bu

It made me laugh out loud!

[Isa]

;D Too funny! Made me think of the whole Bridget Jones fiasco with "The greatest book of our time"!

By the way, do you guys rely much on those blurbs? I hardly ever pay attention to them, you know they're only going to put the positive comments they received. And now we know that some do whatever they want with the reviews!

[Dominique]

to be honest I kind of find them a bit tacky and annoying when they're on book covers. I'd much prefer a blurbless copy!

[zeldafitzgerald]

That was a great article!

I read blurbs more to get a sense of what kind of book it is. A lot of times they'll use adjectives that help you get a sense of whether it's funny, sad, heart-warming, etc. But to what degree that's true is another story.

Though I admit, sometimes I'm a little influence by the blurbs. Especially if they are longish-blurbs of praise from some of my favorite authors.

[caffeinequeen]

Ha, ya, that article was pretty interesting.

As for whether I pay attention to those blurbs or not.. well... if they're only say one or two words I don't pay much attention. But say, on the inside cover they may have a list of quotes from book reviewers, and I usually read those.

[Bina]

Interesting article. I don´t rely that much on blurbs, most are really short and don´t give any information. I especially don´t like that on some book covers there are more blurbs than a summary of what the book is actually about. I mean "Hilarious. I couldn´t put it down" or "A must-read" can´t replace that.

[Lu]

poisonpen said:

to be honest I kind of find them a bit tacky and annoying when they're on book covers. I'd much prefer a blurbless copy!

So do I.
What a funny article! thanks for the link Dom.

[sagedautumn]

As do I Dominique! And i agree with dorothy when publishers and/or authors can't spend a couple of minutes coming up with some kind of summary for the back of the book. I mean you wasted months sometimes a year coming up with the story it won't kill you to write a short little explanation or something

[Dominique]

dorothyparker85 said:

I especially don´t like that on some book covers there are more blurbs than a summary of what the book is actually about. I mean "Hilarious. I couldn´t put it down" or "A must-read" can´t replace that.

I hate that too! Especially when there's nothing but blurbs and no summary at all! Where is the sense in that? I always go home and look them up online to see what they're about if it's like that.

[Bina]

I went to the bookstore last week and picked up different books and one really didn´t have a summary at all. I stood there like an idiot and tried to find one on the first page but nothing! Who comes up with this stuff?
I look them up online, too. Buying a new book is a big deal for me so there´s lots of research

[caffeinequeen]

I know, I hate when there's no description! Like, how am I supposed to know what its about if there's no summary? Hello? Haha

[Kristie]

Haha, that was a great article. I also hate it when there are the reviews on the book covers, even if they're on the back. I'd much rather have a summary of the book so I could decide for myself if the book seems worth reading. I don't pay attention to them, especially because they're only the good parts, not the bad.

[zeldafitzgerald]

I just found a funny blurb on the back of "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" -

"This book does not need a blurb." - Rick Moody.

But alas, they did use blurbs, several, and no summary.