disturb the blurb! (zine)

december 2019 | issue 01

b r u t s i d he t u rb l b ainee

a zine

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before i disturb the blurb, i will first describe the blurb The Wikipedia page for blurb defines it as "a short promotional piece accompanying a piece of creative work...[which] may be written by the author or publisher or quote praise from others."

The birth of the "blurb" as a term is traced back to 1907 when American humorist Gellett Burgess's book Are You a Bromide? featured a woman, named Miss Belinda Blurb, shouting on its cover (Exhibit A). Burgess thus coined the term and defined it as "a flamboyant advertisement; an inspired testimonial" and "a sound like a publisher."

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Exhibit A. From the Library of Congress.

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But the birth of the blurb as a concept is believed to have begun in 1856 with the release of the second edition of American poet Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass (Exhibit B).

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Exhibit B. From the Paris Review.

Along the spine of this second edition, then-obscure Walt Whitman printed--in gold leaf--one line from a private letter of praise from then-famous Ralph Waldo Emerson: "I greet you at the beginning of a great career."

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Today, according to NPR, the blurb is usually identified as "just one thing: a bylined endorsement from a fellow writer--or celebrity--that sings the praises of a book's authors right on the cover of their book." NPR also calls the blurb "one of the most pervasive, longest-running--and, at times, controversial -- tools in the publishing industry ."

Controversial? Sure.

Anything that is, at its core, a " tool " used by an " industry " is sure to be controversial .

Endorsement? Praise? Yup.

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In other words, blurbs hype up the book.

Blurbs are compliments about a book from another writer or critic or famous person or recognized institution to the book's author.

Or are they to the world?

Who is the blurb's audience?

Who gets the write blurbs?

What else do blurbs do other than applaud / sell / clutter / ruin / puff up the book?

Blurbs are their own form of writing and genre of text. And like any form or genre, there are perhaps "ground rules," or basic distinguishing factors, features, and expectations that play into their creation and consumption. There's the physical and spatial limitation of the book jacket cover, the careful selection (by who) of whose and which blurbs are worthy, the issues of reviewers who admittedly don't finish reading the books they blurb...

These are all things you might not think about when you pick up a book and your eyes maybe scan over its blurbs.

Which is why, in order to call attention to these ideas, I'm here to " disturb the blurb! "

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how to disturb the blurb Step 1.

Choose a book. One that has blurbs.

Step 2.

Look at the book, not into it (unless, of course, blurbs are inside).

Step 3.

Question these blurbs.

Step 4.

Replace these blurbs with other blurbs that are originally not meant to be blurbs.

(I personally recommend Goodreads ratings, Amazon reviews, and Twitter reactions)

Step 5.

Challenge the notion of the blurb by way of Step 4's acts of substitution, juxtaposition, etc., i.e.,

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d i s t u rb the bl u r b

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there there by tommy orange

Front Cover Blurb: "An astonishing literary debut!"

Blurb Writer: Margaret Atwood via Twitter

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Disturb the Blurb! 1: Goodreads "white americans need to be schooled and schooled and to take the schooling and fucking learn already."

Blurb Writer: jo Goodreads Reviewer

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Disturb the Blurb! 2: Amazon "This book will ruin Thanksgiving for you."

Blurb Writer: Mary Lins Amazon Customer Top 500 Reviewer

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Disturb the Blurb! 3: Twitter "...worked the minor miracle of making me cry quite a lot" Blurb Writer: @ishreads Twitter User

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salvage the bones by jesmyn ward

Front Cover Blurb: "Masterful...Salvage the Bones has the aura of a classic about it."

Blurb Writer: Ron Charles Washington Post

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Disturb the Blurb! 1: Goodreads "I have a full-fledged author crush on Jesmyn Ward."

Blurb Writer: Dianne Goodreads Reviewer

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Disturb the Blurb! 2: Amazon "Wonderfully descripvte narative , kept me spell bound , even she'd a tear!"

Blurb Writer: beverley haddon Amazon Customer

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Disturb the Blurb! 3: Twitter "Very not sci-fi!"

Blurb Writer: @AlliBlum Twitter User

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fun home by alison bechdel

Front Cover Blurb: "A splendid autobiography... refreshingly open and generous" Blurb Writer: Entertainment Weekly

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Disturb the Blurb! 1: Goodreads "I liked the Broadway musical better than the comic."

Blurb Writer: Diane Goodreads Reviewer

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Disturb the Blurb! 2: Amazon "...the pictures are lovely--so well drawn..."

Blurb Writer: V. G. Harwood Amazon Customer

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Disturb the Blurb! 3: Twitter "sup gamers all i did today was read Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and feel incredibly emotional about it afterwards" Blurb Writer: @zichington Twitter User

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long division by kiese laymon

Front Cover Blurb: "Smart, exciting, and energetic."

Blurb Writer: Victor Lavalle Author of Big Machine

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Disturb the Blurb! 1: Goodreads "Hope the meta-stuff isn't too distracting. Hehehehehe ..."

Blurb Writer: Kiese Laymon Author of Long Division

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Disturb the Blurb! 2: Amazon "..oh my...*scratches head*" Blurb Writer: K. Imani Amazon Customer

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Disturb the Blurb! 3: Twitter "Heard Long Division by Kiese Laymon is good."

Blurb Writer: @PetiteKaybee Twitter User

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manhattan beach by jennifer egan

Front Cover Blurb 1: "Immensely satisfying... Egan works a formidable kind of magic."

Blurb Writer: The New York Times Front Cover Blurb 2: "A magnificent achievement... at once a suspenseful noir intrigue and a transporting work of lyrical beauty and emotional heft."

Blurb Writer: The Boston Globe 41

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Disturb the Blurb! 1: Goodreads "No wonder the reviews in The NY Times and The New Yorker were so glowing."

Blurb Writer: Susan Goodreads Reviewer Disturb the Blurb! 1: Goodreads "This isn't literature; it's a lazy/lame daytime soap opera script."

Blurb Writer: Doug H. Goodreads Reviewer Advanced Copy Reader 44

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Disturb the Blurb! 2: Amazon "Love Ms. Egan, but this is not her Best."

Blurb Writer: Laura A. Corrigan Amazon Customer Disturb the Blurb! 2: Amazon "So Jennifer Egan has written a conventional novel and you know what--it's pretty darn good!"

Blurb Writer: kathleen g Amazon Customer Top 100 Reviewer 46

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Disturb the Blurb! 3: Twitter "I don't even care what it's about, I'm pumped."

Blurb Writer: @alicemjslater Twitter User Disturb the Blurb! 3: Twitter "I'm bored by it but I'm too invested not to finish."

Blurb Writer: @LeLeGiggles Twitter User 48