Blurbs are stupid

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Spiral Jacobs
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Blurbs are stupid

Post by Spiral Jacobs »

I just finished Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which is a nice book by the way, but there's one thing that annoys me no end: the blurb on the back cover. This is what it says:

"...Combines the dark mythology of fantasy with the delicious social comedy of Jane Austen into A MASTERPIECE OF THE GENRE THAT RIVALS TOLKIEN."

Trust me, this book has nothing, absolutely nothing in common with any book that might conceivably be compared to Tolkien. Why do publishers still do this - compare everything that slightly reeks of fantasy with Tolkien?*

/rant on the interwebs





*rhetorical, don't bother ;)
Last edited by Spiral Jacobs on Tue Sep 01, 2009 7:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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StevieG
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Post by StevieG »

My guess is they'll do anything to get a sale (sorry, noticed it was rhetorical, but anyway... :D ). I'm not a fan of blurbs - sometimes they give too much of the story away.
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Orlion
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Post by Orlion »

I'm just infuriated that people apply the term 'delicious' to non-food/drink items. Do these people know how retarded they sound? :P
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jacob Raver, sinTempter
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Post by jacob Raver, sinTempter »

Orlion wrote:I'm just infuriated that people apply the term 'delicious' to non-food/drink items. Do these people know how retarded they sound? :P
What? You've never wanted to eat a book? ...Wierdo.
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Orlion
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Post by Orlion »

jacob Raver, sinTempter wrote:
Orlion wrote:I'm just infuriated that people apply the term 'delicious' to non-food/drink items. Do these people know how retarded they sound? :P
What? You've never wanted to eat a book? ...Wierdo.
:haha: :haha: :haha:
'Tis dream to think that Reason can
Govern the reasoning creature, man.
- Herman Melville

I am Lazarus, come from the dead,
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all!

"All creation is a huge, ornate, imaginary, and unintended fiction; if it could be deciphered it would yield a single shocking word."
-John Crowley
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Post by Avatar »

While I enjoyed it overall, I don't think it deserved the hype...more Charles Dickens than Tolkein. :D

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