"The article of a lifetime!" - Etrigan
November 28, 2018 11:08 AM Subscribe
I congratulate my friends on getting good blurbs, but for my own reading decisions, I don’t rely on them. This is largely because of Stephen King. From all I’ve heard, he’s a sincere guy, but I learned when I was young that his blurbs were not going to guide me to happiness.
Once I was reading a library book about human history that made me uneasy; then I noticed there was a blurb by John Derbyshire on the back. I’d read it on the subway in front of God and everybody! Very embarrassing. It went straight back in the slot.
posted by Countess Elena at 11:18 AM on November 28, 2018 [7 favorites]
Once I was reading a library book about human history that made me uneasy; then I noticed there was a blurb by John Derbyshire on the back. I’d read it on the subway in front of God and everybody! Very embarrassing. It went straight back in the slot.
posted by Countess Elena at 11:18 AM on November 28, 2018 [7 favorites]
Flagged for self-promotion in the the title.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:20 AM on November 28, 2018 [18 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:20 AM on November 28, 2018 [18 favorites]
Guilty (the last page of the sample chapter), I found it weird then and still do now.
posted by jkaczor at 11:24 AM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by jkaczor at 11:24 AM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
It's sometimes interesting to see how an author chooses to praise a book in blurb form; it reveals something about how they think of literary quality, or how they think potential readers think of literary quality, and the style in which their written. They deserve to be the object of study in their own right. This really struck me reading the blurbs for Camilla Grudova's The Doll's Alphabet (which is not recommended). They were:
Nicholas Lezard (in The Guardian, so presumably excerpted from a review): "That I cannot say what all these stories are about is a testament to their worth. They have been haunting me for days now. They have their own, highly distinct flavour, and the inevitability of uncomfortable dreams."
Helen Oyeyemi: "This doll's eye view is a total delight and surveys a world awash with shadowy wit and exquisite collisions of beauty and the grotesque."
Sheila Heti: "Down to its most particular details, The Doll's Alphabet creates an individual world—a landscape I have never encountered before, which now feels like it has been waiting to be captured, and waiting to captivate, all along."
Deborah Levy: "Marvellous. Grudova understands that the best writing has to pull off the hardest aesthetic trick—it has to be both memorable and fleeting."
Even in their likely less than half sincerity they concentrate gauzy writerly tics and sweeping aesthetic pronouncements. They're bizarre and fascinating. They're also, in the main, totally worthless, at least for readers, being neither actually insightful, nor sincerely meant (one suspects), nor, because of their ubiquity, useful as potted recommendations.
I do wonder how the beneficial effect Kelly Link mentions in the article (word of mouth in pre-publication blurbs) plays out—is it because buyers at bookstores use them, or it increases the chance of getting reviews in periodicals, or what?
posted by kenko at 11:25 AM on November 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
Nicholas Lezard (in The Guardian, so presumably excerpted from a review): "That I cannot say what all these stories are about is a testament to their worth. They have been haunting me for days now. They have their own, highly distinct flavour, and the inevitability of uncomfortable dreams."
Helen Oyeyemi: "This doll's eye view is a total delight and surveys a world awash with shadowy wit and exquisite collisions of beauty and the grotesque."
Sheila Heti: "Down to its most particular details, The Doll's Alphabet creates an individual world—a landscape I have never encountered before, which now feels like it has been waiting to be captured, and waiting to captivate, all along."
Deborah Levy: "Marvellous. Grudova understands that the best writing has to pull off the hardest aesthetic trick—it has to be both memorable and fleeting."
Even in their likely less than half sincerity they concentrate gauzy writerly tics and sweeping aesthetic pronouncements. They're bizarre and fascinating. They're also, in the main, totally worthless, at least for readers, being neither actually insightful, nor sincerely meant (one suspects), nor, because of their ubiquity, useful as potted recommendations.
I do wonder how the beneficial effect Kelly Link mentions in the article (word of mouth in pre-publication blurbs) plays out—is it because buyers at bookstores use them, or it increases the chance of getting reviews in periodicals, or what?
posted by kenko at 11:25 AM on November 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
I recently bought a book at a library book sale because of an intriguing blurb on the front cover by Emily St. John Mandel, because I thought Station Eleven was one of the most inventive books I've read in years. The description of the book was high-concept enough that it would likely be either spectacular or an ambitious failure, and Mandel's blurb convinced me. (I mean, it was also one of those all-the-books-you-can-fit-in-a-bag book sales, so it was hardly a big risk.)
Sadly, the book was a major disappointment. Emily, you let me down.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 11:29 AM on November 28, 2018
Sadly, the book was a major disappointment. Emily, you let me down.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 11:29 AM on November 28, 2018
The Art of the Blurb (or, Step Away from The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Max Gladstone)
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:30 AM on November 28, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:30 AM on November 28, 2018 [10 favorites]
About halfway through this article "blurb" stopped looking like a real word to me.
posted by Hamusutaa at 11:32 AM on November 28, 2018 [16 favorites]
posted by Hamusutaa at 11:32 AM on November 28, 2018 [16 favorites]
Only way to gauge whether a book is worth reading is to flip to page 60 and see if it captures your interest.
posted by JamesBay at 11:32 AM on November 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by JamesBay at 11:32 AM on November 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
I would take any kind of blurbage over the back cover that is just a huge author photo. I don't much care what the author looks like! But a description of what the book is about, like they used to have, would be fab.
posted by thelonius at 11:41 AM on November 28, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 11:41 AM on November 28, 2018 [11 favorites]
"That damned Etrigan sniped me on this FPP!" -- Chrysostom
posted by Chrysostom at 11:43 AM on November 28, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 11:43 AM on November 28, 2018 [7 favorites]
I enjoy how Steven Brust books still feature a "this kid is going places!" blurb from Roger Zelazany, long after a) Brust became an established writer, and b) Zelazny died.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:45 AM on November 28, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 11:45 AM on November 28, 2018 [13 favorites]
Putting my reader hat on, I never read that shit anyway. It's especially grating when the first ten pages of the book are BLURBS. Who gives a fuck?
Putting on my mystery writer hat, because I self publish, I never hunt down that shit anyway. I guess I could just make up authors and make up blurbs, but again - who gives a fuck?
Maybe I am pessimistic, and maybe blurbs are the way to sales riches, but I highly doubt it.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 11:45 AM on November 28, 2018
Putting on my mystery writer hat, because I self publish, I never hunt down that shit anyway. I guess I could just make up authors and make up blurbs, but again - who gives a fuck?
Maybe I am pessimistic, and maybe blurbs are the way to sales riches, but I highly doubt it.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 11:45 AM on November 28, 2018
I would add bonus points for anyone with the gumption to blurb their own work under a different (legitimate) pseudonym.
posted by asperity at 11:49 AM on November 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by asperity at 11:49 AM on November 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
I've always assumed these things are done as favours, with no guarantee that the blurbing author has actually read the book, and as such I give them about as much weight as Amazon reviews when deciding whether or not to read something.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:50 AM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:50 AM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Private Eye in the UK used to write occasionally about the blurbing industry. The trick that they used to focus on was the honest review that allows a critic to maintain their credibility, which would contain a carefully crafted sentence or two that could be excerpted to sound like a ringing endorsement, thereby allowing the critic to maintain their relationships at the same time. (This is a bit different from the publisher quoting out-of-context, because in this case it’s been left there intentionally for them to find.)
The comment’s structure is somewhat confused and barely relates to the topic at hand, and an attempt to be witty falls flat. Neverthless, in his signature digressive style, chappell, ambrose has written a startlingly original comment, which is sure to draw plenty of well-deserved attention. (Albeit that most of the attention is likely to come from the mods.)
posted by chappell, ambrose at 11:53 AM on November 28, 2018 [28 favorites]
The comment’s structure is somewhat confused and barely relates to the topic at hand, and an attempt to be witty falls flat. Neverthless, in his signature digressive style, chappell, ambrose has written a startlingly original comment, which is sure to draw plenty of well-deserved attention. (Albeit that most of the attention is likely to come from the mods.)
posted by chappell, ambrose at 11:53 AM on November 28, 2018 [28 favorites]
The thing is, with following authors on twitter, I have figured out that somewhere from many to most authors I like recommend books I dislike. So blurbs from other authors in particular are useless for me. I have reviewers I trust.
posted by jeather at 11:54 AM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by jeather at 11:54 AM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Recently unused, a blurb gleaned from an Extremely Famous friend of the author after a good few wines: "Murder and babies. My two passions!"
Reader, we chickened out.
posted by ominous_paws at 11:54 AM on November 28, 2018 [10 favorites]
Reader, we chickened out.
posted by ominous_paws at 11:54 AM on November 28, 2018 [10 favorites]
The thing is, with following authors on twitter, I have figured out that somewhere from many to most authors I like recommend books I dislike.
I've found this to be the same when I attempt to listen to the bands that musicians I love list as favorites.
Despite the fact that most of the books I've read on the strength of a blurb have been a bust, and I otherwise ignore blurbs, I still daydream about being blurbed by an author I love someday. Oh, to be part of the problem!
posted by wellifyouinsist at 12:06 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
I've found this to be the same when I attempt to listen to the bands that musicians I love list as favorites.
Despite the fact that most of the books I've read on the strength of a blurb have been a bust, and I otherwise ignore blurbs, I still daydream about being blurbed by an author I love someday. Oh, to be part of the problem!
posted by wellifyouinsist at 12:06 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
I have never, ever bought a book due to the author blurbs.
I read the synopsis and if that seems interesting I read the first couple of pages and if I want to keep reading it, I buy it.
posted by Gwynarra at 12:08 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I read the synopsis and if that seems interesting I read the first couple of pages and if I want to keep reading it, I buy it.
posted by Gwynarra at 12:08 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I would add bonus points for anyone with the gumption to blurb their own work under a different (legitimate) pseudonym.
That Chrysostom is brilliant, and a major asset to the site.
posted by DEFINITELY not Chrysostom, that's for sure! at 12:16 PM on November 28, 2018 [47 favorites]
That Chrysostom is brilliant, and a major asset to the site.
posted by DEFINITELY not Chrysostom, that's for sure! at 12:16 PM on November 28, 2018 [47 favorites]
“this kid is going places!"
That is right up there with “this battle will end a great empire” for stacking the deck in the forecaster’s favor.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:17 PM on November 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
That is right up there with “this battle will end a great empire” for stacking the deck in the forecaster’s favor.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:17 PM on November 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
Like indie band connections, I find them useful for lesser known stuff. Like, I got into Destroyer because of the New Pornographers, or (backwards) I got into Fugazi because of Cobain and Oberst. And books are kind of all obscure, because folks don't read. So, Kundera blurb -> The Little Girl and the Cigarette, or Bukowski blurb-> Fante. These things can be useful. I agree that they shouldn't be expected.
posted by es_de_bah at 12:19 PM on November 28, 2018
posted by es_de_bah at 12:19 PM on November 28, 2018
I don't read the blurbs, but if there's a bunch of blurbs on the back I do scan for the authors' names before going any further. More often than not this leads to me putting the book back on the shelf. If Jodi Picoult is praising something, I know exactly what it's going to be.
I also have a new policy that I won't read anything described on the cover as searing or lyrical. Shut the hell up with searing and lyrical, everybody.
posted by something something at 12:21 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
I also have a new policy that I won't read anything described on the cover as searing or lyrical. Shut the hell up with searing and lyrical, everybody.
posted by something something at 12:21 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
The publishing industry thus runs on the fuel of free writer labor from authors often unrelated to the publishing house—i.e., unlike the flap copy writer who is paid by said publisher, the blurbing author is contributing to the book but is not the one getting published and paid. [...] The fraught part has to do with the scarcest of resources for all of us: time to do our own work.
Absolutely. Recently I received my first request to write a blurb, which surprised me because I'm a blogger who's not even a published author yet. I declined. While it's flattering to be asked, the harsh financial reality is that I'm barely scraping by as it is. I simply cannot afford to take on any more unpaid work than I'm already doing for my own projects.
posted by velvet winter at 12:23 PM on November 28, 2018
Absolutely. Recently I received my first request to write a blurb, which surprised me because I'm a blogger who's not even a published author yet. I declined. While it's flattering to be asked, the harsh financial reality is that I'm barely scraping by as it is. I simply cannot afford to take on any more unpaid work than I'm already doing for my own projects.
posted by velvet winter at 12:23 PM on November 28, 2018
It seems to be a rule that every single children's graphic novel must have a blurb from Jeff Smith of Bone fame, usually something along the lines of "I love [title of work]!"
posted by goatdog at 12:24 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by goatdog at 12:24 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
> gauzy writerly tics
Exactly, and to me this is why they are useful - they signify that this is going to be a Worthy Contemporary Literary Fiction, which I usually avoid.
Doesn't Private Eye still do a yearly "these people mutually blurbed each others' books, and they have the same publisher / they are married" or other link? Always thought that was one of Private Eye's less important revelations. Though there was someone who chose his own book as book of the year. (Googling doesn't remind me whom I am thinking of - it wasn't Nell Zink.)
posted by paduasoy at 12:25 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Exactly, and to me this is why they are useful - they signify that this is going to be a Worthy Contemporary Literary Fiction, which I usually avoid.
Doesn't Private Eye still do a yearly "these people mutually blurbed each others' books, and they have the same publisher / they are married" or other link? Always thought that was one of Private Eye's less important revelations. Though there was someone who chose his own book as book of the year. (Googling doesn't remind me whom I am thinking of - it wasn't Nell Zink.)
posted by paduasoy at 12:25 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
They’ve worked on me. But it’s always been a Neil Gaiman blurb. He seems to write a lot of them.
posted by greermahoney at 12:26 PM on November 28, 2018
posted by greermahoney at 12:26 PM on November 28, 2018
Doesn't Private Eye still do a yearly "these people mutually blurbed each others' books, and they have the same publisher / they are married" or other link? Always thought that was one of Private Eye's less important revelations. Though there was someone who chose his own book as book of the year.
Yes, they like to point out log-rolling, especially when it comes to prizes and “book of the year” lists.
posted by chappell, ambrose at 12:33 PM on November 28, 2018
Yes, they like to point out log-rolling, especially when it comes to prizes and “book of the year” lists.
posted by chappell, ambrose at 12:33 PM on November 28, 2018
Blurbs are clearly bull, but I'll be damned if when my [not famous] friend published their first book, I didn't ooh and ahh over the blurbs.
"Wow! [Famous person who has definitely not read the book] said your book was great! You're basically best friends!"
posted by matrixclown at 12:34 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
"Wow! [Famous person who has definitely not read the book] said your book was great! You're basically best friends!"
posted by matrixclown at 12:34 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I kind of like blurbs, in part for what kenko described, the little pleasure in blurbs that are so clearly trying hard to say something that could be read as an endorsement of sorts without actually being one if taken at precise meaning.
But even more I like having the blurbs that are ringing endorsements so when I read a lousy book I know who else not to read. If they like a bad book either their idea of good writing and mine differ or they're prevaricating and thus untrustworthy in their own efforts.
posted by gusottertrout at 12:37 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
But even more I like having the blurbs that are ringing endorsements so when I read a lousy book I know who else not to read. If they like a bad book either their idea of good writing and mine differ or they're prevaricating and thus untrustworthy in their own efforts.
posted by gusottertrout at 12:37 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'll just leave this here, for no particular reason.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:41 PM on November 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:41 PM on November 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
This made me look up blurb in the OED. I would like to know what the blurb was that offended The Spectator in 1924: "The note of vanity is ominously accentuated by the publisher's blurb on the dust~cover, as silly and vulgar as the present writer has ever seen".
posted by paduasoy at 12:51 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by paduasoy at 12:51 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
This FPP is searing or lyrical. That kid, Etrigan, is going places. Not sure where, exactly, but places, for sure!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:55 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:55 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Like yelp reviews, I often find blurbs useful to ward me away from something: "Oh god John Ringo endorses this nope nopenope."
posted by aspersioncast at 12:56 PM on November 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by aspersioncast at 12:56 PM on November 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
I would add bonus points for anyone with the gumption to blurb their own work under a different (legitimate) pseudonym.
Not quite the same, but in college I was reading a Terry Pratchett book and noticed it had blurbs from both Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels, both of whom are actually Barbara Mertz who got a Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute, the very building in which I was reading said book between classes.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 12:57 PM on November 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
Not quite the same, but in college I was reading a Terry Pratchett book and noticed it had blurbs from both Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels, both of whom are actually Barbara Mertz who got a Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute, the very building in which I was reading said book between classes.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 12:57 PM on November 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
I trust critic/reviewer blurbs more than author blurbs generally. If a book has ten pages of blurbs I get a little nervous. It starts to feel like very stable genius, not a baby territory. I also get nervous when any restaurant has a superlative in its name.
posted by BrotherCaine at 12:57 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by BrotherCaine at 12:57 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
That Chrysostom is brilliant, and a major asset to the site.
posted by DEFINITELY not Chrysostom, that's for sure!
"$5 and an A++ for effort"
- knownassociate
posted by knownassociate at 1:01 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by DEFINITELY not Chrysostom, that's for sure!
"$5 and an A++ for effort"
- knownassociate
posted by knownassociate at 1:01 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
"Luminous prose" was an exit sign for me. Another was a cover with a picture of an open window and a curtain fluttered by the breeze. Unfortunately, these are both kind of gendered, I'm afraid. Dunno what that might say about my internalized misogyny and/or the poor taste of marketers.
posted by Countess Elena at 1:05 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Countess Elena at 1:05 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
It probably says something about me that I am happy to spend $5 on a one-liner.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:05 PM on November 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 1:05 PM on November 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
I keep looking for J.D. Salinger blurbs, myself.
That said, I know Mr. Brust. I also know he's 63. "This kid," he is not. That hat of his is probably older than the median age of US citizens.
posted by aurelian at 1:09 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
That said, I know Mr. Brust. I also know he's 63. "This kid," he is not. That hat of his is probably older than the median age of US citizens.
posted by aurelian at 1:09 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
"Luminous Prose" - follow on Spotify, today!
posted by aurelian at 1:16 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by aurelian at 1:16 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Eh, I feel like they can be helpful when trying to coax mainstream (white, otherwise privileged) readers into venturing into new territory. Heavy had like five pages of blurbs up front, which ordinarily I find infuriating (I paid for those pages!!!), but I assume the publisher felt that white folks needed to have their hand held to pick up this one ("oh, it's not by Ta-Nehisi Coates? who is this guy again?").
posted by praemunire at 1:24 PM on November 28, 2018
posted by praemunire at 1:24 PM on November 28, 2018
"Luminous prose" was an exit sign for me.
Was it Michiko Kakutani who once pointed out that "luminous" is a code word for "boring"? Anyway, "luminous" tends to be a (luminous?) red flag for me, along with "rollicking." (Don't even get me started on "Dickensian," an adjective that always reduces me to splutters of incoherent rage.)
I'm not sure academic blurbs are any more helpful, although they can sometimes reveal who originally refereed the book (blurbs are often lifted from the reports).
posted by thomas j wise at 1:25 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Was it Michiko Kakutani who once pointed out that "luminous" is a code word for "boring"? Anyway, "luminous" tends to be a (luminous?) red flag for me, along with "rollicking." (Don't even get me started on "Dickensian," an adjective that always reduces me to splutters of incoherent rage.)
I'm not sure academic blurbs are any more helpful, although they can sometimes reveal who originally refereed the book (blurbs are often lifted from the reports).
posted by thomas j wise at 1:25 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I have never, ever bought a book due to the author blurbs.
I did ONCE and that book turned out to be very bad, and also the author got very upset for my saying the lead was TSTL.
Yesterday my friend was getting rid of books and she gave me a copy of "The Disgusted Driver's Handbook." The blurbs on it are actually funnier than the entire book is so far.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:37 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
I did ONCE and that book turned out to be very bad, and also the author got very upset for my saying the lead was TSTL.
Yesterday my friend was getting rid of books and she gave me a copy of "The Disgusted Driver's Handbook." The blurbs on it are actually funnier than the entire book is so far.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:37 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
As a reader picking a book at the library or bookstore, I don't trust author blurbs. If I see an author blurb from someone I respect AND a positive review on the cover, then it might mean something but I always assume author blurbs are just nepotism or pity.
posted by latkes at 1:37 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by latkes at 1:37 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Oh yeah non fiction blurbs have a different meaning that fiction blurbs! Like I would weigh a popular science writer's blurb of a non fiction book more heavily than even a beloved fiction author's blurb. Why? I don't know! Perceived accuracy I guess?
posted by latkes at 1:39 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by latkes at 1:39 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Oh yeah, I also trust author blurbs if they're for books in translation or books by dead authors. In these cases, the authors seem to genuinely want to prosthelytize about a beloved but not-widely-known book that made a meaningful impact on them.
posted by latkes at 1:42 PM on November 28, 2018
posted by latkes at 1:42 PM on November 28, 2018
I have noticed that exclamation points are lies. Maybe not always, but often enough. Rather than shouting the enthusiasm, the original quote is actually a clause in a longer sentence, a sentence that ends with a period.
Don't believe the lie of the exclamation point!
posted by zardoz at 1:54 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Don't believe the lie of the exclamation point!
posted by zardoz at 1:54 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
About halfway through this article "blurb" stopped looking like a real word to me
Hamusutaa, this phenomenon is called jamais vu
"Often described as the opposite of déjà vu, jamais vu involves a sense of eeriness and the observer's impression of seeing the situation for the first time, despite rationally knowing that he or she has been in the situation before."
There's also "presque vu" which is when something is at the "tip of your tongue"
posted by jcruelty at 2:01 PM on November 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
Hamusutaa, this phenomenon is called jamais vu
"Often described as the opposite of déjà vu, jamais vu involves a sense of eeriness and the observer's impression of seeing the situation for the first time, despite rationally knowing that he or she has been in the situation before."
There's also "presque vu" which is when something is at the "tip of your tongue"
posted by jcruelty at 2:01 PM on November 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
It's nice if readers like blurbs, but I've been told repeatedly by editors and publicists that blurbs are for booksellers. It's like a little vote of confidence that somebody besides the publisher likes it, thus encouraging the bookseller to order some.
Also some insider baseball: a certain house that rhymes with BarperTollins at least, doesn't like "in house" blurbs. They feel it looks sketch if their A list authors are blurbing all their midlist authors.
More insider baseball: sometimes the author doing the blurbing doesn't write it either. On more than one occasion, I've written my own blurb after Big Name author signed off on it.
posted by headspace at 2:02 PM on November 28, 2018 [6 favorites]
Also some insider baseball: a certain house that rhymes with BarperTollins at least, doesn't like "in house" blurbs. They feel it looks sketch if their A list authors are blurbing all their midlist authors.
More insider baseball: sometimes the author doing the blurbing doesn't write it either. On more than one occasion, I've written my own blurb after Big Name author signed off on it.
posted by headspace at 2:02 PM on November 28, 2018 [6 favorites]
I really like grabbing books by new-to-me authors at libraries and bookstores, and I discovered my happiness with the results increased dramatically when I started relying on snippets of positive critic reviews on the covers rather than author blurbs. It's fine if they have both, or neither, but if it's only author blurbs, I will put it back.
posted by lazuli at 2:02 PM on November 28, 2018
posted by lazuli at 2:02 PM on November 28, 2018
About halfway through this article "blurb" stopped looking like a real word to me
Another term for it is "semantic satiation"!
posted by foxfirefey at 2:07 PM on November 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
Ah interesting, "semantic satiation" is more apt. Hadn't heard that one before although we're all familiar with the phenomenon. It happens to me every Thanksgiving with the word "grateful"
posted by jcruelty at 2:15 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by jcruelty at 2:15 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
My favoritest author blurb ever is Maurice Sendak's blurb for Colbert's I Am a Pole (And So Can You):
"The sad thing is, I like it."
For the standard "A-list author supporting mid-list author" blurbs, I assumed they all translated to "thumbs up; this is quite a readable book." If I had some more direct knowledge of the author in question, I might give them more weight than that, but mostly I figured blurbs were happy face/plus-signs with the more famous author's signature.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 2:17 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
"The sad thing is, I like it."
For the standard "A-list author supporting mid-list author" blurbs, I assumed they all translated to "thumbs up; this is quite a readable book." If I had some more direct knowledge of the author in question, I might give them more weight than that, but mostly I figured blurbs were happy face/plus-signs with the more famous author's signature.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 2:17 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Wow, she does make a compelling argument that this is a huge waste of energy, reading time and book copies. That's interesting about Geraldine Brooks only using reviews of past books. I'd noticed that and wondered if nothing good had been said about the current book but trusted her enough to not be too concerned.
This isn't strictly relevant because it's an excerpt from a letter instead of a solicited blurb. The back of West with the Night had this amazing endorsement from Ernest Hemingway.
Did you read Beryl Markham's book, West with the Night? ...She has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pig pen. But this girl ... can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers ... it really is a bloody wonderful book."
It is a good book but it leaves you with a lot of questions, including what was replaced by ellipses. Turns out it's "But this girl , who is to my knowledge very unpleasant and we might even say a high-grade bitch, ..."!
posted by carolr at 2:18 PM on November 28, 2018 [11 favorites]
This isn't strictly relevant because it's an excerpt from a letter instead of a solicited blurb. The back of West with the Night had this amazing endorsement from Ernest Hemingway.
Did you read Beryl Markham's book, West with the Night? ...She has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pig pen. But this girl ... can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers ... it really is a bloody wonderful book."
It is a good book but it leaves you with a lot of questions, including what was replaced by ellipses. Turns out it's "But this girl , who is to my knowledge very unpleasant and we might even say a high-grade bitch, ..."!
posted by carolr at 2:18 PM on November 28, 2018 [11 favorites]
I actually just did an interview about this topic specifically for my podcast a few weeks back, and a big takeaway from the editor we talked to was that blurbs are useful inside the publisher as much as anything. If you can get a really good blurb from a big name -- particularly if it's someone who doesn't blurb often -- that blurb can be a powerful tool for editors to advocate for more publicity resources, for sales to present to stores, etc. I'm in the middle of this process myself with my own book, and when I made a joke about asking one of my much-more-famous professional aquaintences for a blurb my editor pounced on it immediately, saying that a blurb from that person would be the kind of thing that sales would be VERY interested in.
Blurbs are weird!!!!
posted by Narrative Priorities at 2:35 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Blurbs are weird!!!!
posted by Narrative Priorities at 2:35 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Over 50 comments and nothing yet from MetaFilter's Own John Scalzi (aka jscalzi), who regularly shows on his got-his-own-blog pictures of the latest books and ARCs (Advance Reading Copy) he has received from publishers, most of which he apparently doesn't blurb for, although he is certainly considered "blurb-worthy" by much of the book biz.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:44 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:44 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Oh, God forbid Hemingway ever do anything nice for a woman without any poison in it. He humiliated Dorothy Parker, and she thought he hung the moon until the day she died, which was long after he did. In This House we do modernism with Parker's Complete Stories.
I'll just leave this here, for no particular reason.
This seems to date from the early 1910s, which means that it is probably in the public domain and therefore can be used as a blurb by anyone who cares to do so.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:45 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'll just leave this here, for no particular reason.
This seems to date from the early 1910s, which means that it is probably in the public domain and therefore can be used as a blurb by anyone who cares to do so.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:45 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Another reason to like Beryl Markham.
posted by praemunire at 2:45 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 2:45 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Heh, I have that edition of WWtN, never occurred to me that the ellipses might not just be a (slightly off-brand) flourish by Papa.
It is probably better than most Hemingway novels, both in terms of chops and brevity.
posted by aspersioncast at 4:10 PM on November 28, 2018
It is probably better than most Hemingway novels, both in terms of chops and brevity.
posted by aspersioncast at 4:10 PM on November 28, 2018
saying that a blurb from that person would be the kind of thing that sales would be VERY interested in.
So basically, circulate them inside, put them on the advance reader copies, and spare everyone else by leaving them off the finished product?
posted by kenko at 4:23 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
So basically, circulate them inside, put them on the advance reader copies, and spare everyone else by leaving them off the finished product?
posted by kenko at 4:23 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
I run a children's science book award committee for the organization to which I belong. We intended for our membership to nominate books and we'd judge them, and we'd publish the list on our website. We'd choose "winners", but we figured the list was the important thing- parents could figure out which of the good books we recommended were the right books for their kids, winners or no winners.
Let me emphasize that we are an extremely obscure organization of no interest to anyone normally..... until the children's book publishers discovered us. They began nominating their own books. When they won, they'd display our "medallion" and put us in their blurbs.
Then authors discovered us and began nominating *their* books....
I'd be annoyed, but even the worst children's book publishers are still pretty nice, and authors tend to be completely wonderful. But by now the publishers' nominations completely overshadow the nominations from our members.
posted by acrasis at 4:34 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Let me emphasize that we are an extremely obscure organization of no interest to anyone normally..... until the children's book publishers discovered us. They began nominating their own books. When they won, they'd display our "medallion" and put us in their blurbs.
Then authors discovered us and began nominating *their* books....
I'd be annoyed, but even the worst children's book publishers are still pretty nice, and authors tend to be completely wonderful. But by now the publishers' nominations completely overshadow the nominations from our members.
posted by acrasis at 4:34 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Hamusutaa, this phenomenon is called jamais vu
I've always thought of that as relating to places or other non-verbal experiences...I'd call the un-blurbing an example of semantic satiation
posted by thelonius at 4:56 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
I've always thought of that as relating to places or other non-verbal experiences...I'd call the un-blurbing an example of semantic satiation
posted by thelonius at 4:56 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
I never look at blurbs to decide whether to read a book, I look at blurbs to see what creative ways other people have come up with to describe a book I enjoyed.
My all-time favorite is William Gibson's blurb on one of the Sandman Slim books: "This is the best B-movie I've read in at least 20 years." I have never read something that better encapsulated the series.
posted by brook horse at 5:36 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
My all-time favorite is William Gibson's blurb on one of the Sandman Slim books: "This is the best B-movie I've read in at least 20 years." I have never read something that better encapsulated the series.
posted by brook horse at 5:36 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
ah, I see I am late....
Semantic late-iation.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:42 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Semantic late-iation.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:42 PM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Now I kind of want to write a book that contains nothing but blurbs on other books and then use some of those blurbs for other books on the cover of my book of blurbs.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 7:56 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 7:56 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Jamais vu (“never seen”) is basically the opposite of deja vu (“already seen”). For example, you drive down a highway that you’ve traveled a gazillion times before, and because it’s night-time instead of daytime, or you happened to get lost in your thoughts for a little while, suddenly you’ve blanked out your landmarks and you’re not exactly sure where you are. Or another one would be where you stay in a hotel room and when you wake up, you have to reorient yourself for a minute because you forgot you weren’t in your house.
The phenomenon where you see a word so many times that the word seems to stop making sense, that’s something else, as others have noted.
posted by Autumnheart at 9:03 PM on November 28, 2018
The phenomenon where you see a word so many times that the word seems to stop making sense, that’s something else, as others have noted.
posted by Autumnheart at 9:03 PM on November 28, 2018
Here's an old Straight Dope column on déjà vu (and jamais vu).
posted by Chrysostom at 9:16 PM on November 28, 2018
posted by Chrysostom at 9:16 PM on November 28, 2018
After the 200th use of the word "blurb" I had to stop reading. It made my head hurt.
posted by bendy at 10:01 PM on November 28, 2018
posted by bendy at 10:01 PM on November 28, 2018
Can we all agree that blurb is even more annoying than the commonly assumed 'most annoying' word moist?
...although even more annoying would be a moist blurb
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:16 PM on November 28, 2018
...although even more annoying would be a moist blurb
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:16 PM on November 28, 2018
My own fragment of insider baseball is that publishing generally is marked by a keen amateurism (shall we not say disorganisation) that means blurbs probably mean different things to different individuals and teams, let alone to different companies, there's no real single purpose or character to their use. With that said the one eternal struggle I do see is editors battling to get their books what thry feel is an appropriate share of promotional resource and effort from marketing and publicity (ie all of it, ideally to the exclusion of all other books) so I can well believe narrative_prioities's comment.
Also some authors seem to go through patches of just blurbing every damn book out; there was a time after the success of twilight when I don't believe I saw a single book without a Stephanie Meyer quote slapped on the front. She was incredibly generous with her time, or at least her permission...
posted by ominous_paws at 11:30 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also some authors seem to go through patches of just blurbing every damn book out; there was a time after the success of twilight when I don't believe I saw a single book without a Stephanie Meyer quote slapped on the front. She was incredibly generous with her time, or at least her permission...
posted by ominous_paws at 11:30 PM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Reading all these "Nope nope, I never read blurbs, or when I do I never trust 'em" is like sitting at a dinner party with a bunch of friends who swear they never order in for pizza.
And the amount of time and energy Marie Myung-Ok Lee devoted to writing that article would have given her ample opportunity to write blurbs for other authors for at least the next five or ten years...
posted by PhineasGage at 8:02 AM on November 29, 2018
And the amount of time and energy Marie Myung-Ok Lee devoted to writing that article would have given her ample opportunity to write blurbs for other authors for at least the next five or ten years...
posted by PhineasGage at 8:02 AM on November 29, 2018
Unique turn of phrase in Myung-Ok Lee's article, "apartments made small with towers of books". The seven creative words appear only once anywhere on the internet: at the themillions.com November 28th page cited by chappell, ambrose. With editing, Myung-Ok Lee could win a Hemingway six-word story competition. (moreover, interesting images returned, for instance )
posted by Schroder at 8:38 AM on November 29, 2018
posted by Schroder at 8:38 AM on November 29, 2018
"luminous" as a descriptor in blurbs ranks up there with referring to prose as "supple" and a short book as a "slim volume".
posted by koucha at 8:45 AM on November 29, 2018
posted by koucha at 8:45 AM on November 29, 2018
I mean, "luminous" as in "glowing" as in "glowing praise" maybe isn't the absolute worst?
posted by ominous_paws at 8:54 AM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by ominous_paws at 8:54 AM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I would add bonus points for anyone with the gumption to blurb their own work under a different (legitimate) pseudonym.
Donald Westlake wrote of J Morgan Cunningham's Comfort Station, "I wish I had written this book!"
J Morgan Cunningham is one of Westlake's several pseudonyms.
He, Westlake, sort of topped that in his novel Jimmy the Kid in which some luckless criminals get involved in a kidnapping, the details of which one of their member got from a novel by one Richard Stark.
Richard Stark was another of Westlake's several pseudonyms.
Part of the job of one literary agent I know used to be to write the blurbs ascribed to his firm's Big Deal You'd Know The Name author who liked to encourage the young'uns but didn't want to actually read the books.
Me, I like blurbs. But then, I also like acknowledgements, bibliographies, footnotes, and even indices - properly done (which used to happen more often than now), all can be the source of great amusement.
posted by BWA at 3:26 PM on November 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
Donald Westlake wrote of J Morgan Cunningham's Comfort Station, "I wish I had written this book!"
J Morgan Cunningham is one of Westlake's several pseudonyms.
He, Westlake, sort of topped that in his novel Jimmy the Kid in which some luckless criminals get involved in a kidnapping, the details of which one of their member got from a novel by one Richard Stark.
Richard Stark was another of Westlake's several pseudonyms.
Part of the job of one literary agent I know used to be to write the blurbs ascribed to his firm's Big Deal You'd Know The Name author who liked to encourage the young'uns but didn't want to actually read the books.
Me, I like blurbs. But then, I also like acknowledgements, bibliographies, footnotes, and even indices - properly done (which used to happen more often than now), all can be the source of great amusement.
posted by BWA at 3:26 PM on November 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
If anybody deserved those points, it was Westlake (and it's hard to think of someone more likely to make people laugh with it!)
posted by asperity at 4:18 PM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by asperity at 4:18 PM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
On the "things I worry about" scale, blurbs being "built on free labor from authors" ranks just below the fact that I'm out of Malört. I mean really, authors--grow a pair.
If you need a more passive-aggressive path, just send in "luminous cacaphony" or something equally meaningless for every blurb. Or "almost half as good as my work."
Okay, I guess you could spend a lot of time thinking of the perfect non-blurb too. Frankly, I have no idea how authors actually write stuff. But I am very glad they do.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 5:49 PM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
If you need a more passive-aggressive path, just send in "luminous cacaphony" or something equally meaningless for every blurb. Or "almost half as good as my work."
Okay, I guess you could spend a lot of time thinking of the perfect non-blurb too. Frankly, I have no idea how authors actually write stuff. But I am very glad they do.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 5:49 PM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
The labor is in reading the book (insofar as you do), in weighing your words to be helpful but not insincere, and in taking the time out of your day to email somebody. So it’s not nothing, especially if it’s a slow read.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:20 PM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Countess Elena at 6:20 PM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I like blurbs. There, I said it. I don't remember for sure whether I've ever picked a book based solely on blurbs. I'm old. I've read a lot of books. It's certainly possible that I might have. That I can't remember either way suggests that it hasn't made much difference in the long run. But I do like to read them. It's amusing to me to try to figure out which ones are actually written by the author who has put their name to it and whether it reflects a sincere effort to provide information to prospective readers.
Most of my favorite authors have recognizable voices. Which isn't to say that a savvy editor or assistant couldn't mimic the voice. In fact, that possibility makes it a more entertaining exercise. But I have found that there are certain authors who regularly put their names to blurbs that I agree with. Which is both useful and interesting in the sense of revealing possible mutual interests.
But then, I also always read introductions, acknowledgments, author's notes, etc. As a writer, I am always interested to read what an author chooses to reveal of their process and influences.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 7:18 PM on November 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
Most of my favorite authors have recognizable voices. Which isn't to say that a savvy editor or assistant couldn't mimic the voice. In fact, that possibility makes it a more entertaining exercise. But I have found that there are certain authors who regularly put their names to blurbs that I agree with. Which is both useful and interesting in the sense of revealing possible mutual interests.
But then, I also always read introductions, acknowledgments, author's notes, etc. As a writer, I am always interested to read what an author chooses to reveal of their process and influences.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 7:18 PM on November 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
paduasoy: I've had a friend check the Spectator archives. The review was unsigned (alas). The book being reviewed was Carlyle to The French Revolution, by David Alec Wilson.
posted by aurelian at 4:51 PM on November 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by aurelian at 4:51 PM on November 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
Abebooks.com has a few copies available, for cheap. (Less than $10) Wilson's specialty was Carlyle, it seems - he has multiple titles on the man.
posted by aurelian at 4:55 PM on November 30, 2018
posted by aurelian at 4:55 PM on November 30, 2018
Carlyle's The French Revolution is a peck of fun, incidentally.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:03 PM on November 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 6:03 PM on November 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm late but invoked ,so I will say that one of my favorite blurbs of mine is on a book by Sam Sykes, and it reads, in its entirety:
"I do not wish Sam Sykes dead."
posted by jscalzi at 9:01 AM on December 6, 2018 [5 favorites]
"I do not wish Sam Sykes dead."
posted by jscalzi at 9:01 AM on December 6, 2018 [5 favorites]
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posted by aspersioncast at 11:12 AM on November 28, 2018 [11 favorites]