Guest blogger Dan Vera is a poet and editor living in Washington, DC. He's the editor of White Crane runs the Brookland Area Writers and Artists, and is a co-conspirator in VRZHU Press . For more on Dan click here.
Miss Belinda Blurb
So, I've been asked to read a manuscript and write a book jacket blurb. Actually I was asked a few weeks ago and have just now begun to sit with the manuscript after a few cursory gazings. This is the first request I've received for a blurb and it made me a bit nervous at first. I know the poet's work and have enjoyed it but what if I didn't like this manuscript? Do I write the truth? Do I just pull myself out of the situation by stating my inability to review the book. Yeah, yeah. Chickening out perhaps, but better than giving a negative review? What would the New York Times Ethicist say about this?
Fortunately for me and for the poet, I like the manuscript very much. I can only imagine that he asked because of the magazine I edit and the poetry books I'm helping to put out there. Perhaps for my penchant for rapturously going to bat for books I love.
I've had the chance to review a number of books in my role as an editor of White Crane, a gay culture magazine. But what are the differences between a review and a blurb? There certainly are elements of a review in a blurb. But a blurb is weightier than a review because it's actually strongly endorsing the book in question. Has a writer ever included negative blurbs on the cover of their book?
Where'd the word blurb come from anyway? A little digging on the web pegs the word as an American original. Coined in 1907 by the humorist Gelett Burgess (1866-1951) to mock excessive praise printed on book jackets. Apparently Burgess said the copy on the book jacket of one of his books was the work of a "Miss. Belinda Blurb." And thus was the blurb born. Burgess was quite a character in his time. He was a writer of humorous verse including infamous "The Purple Cow." He was also an illustrator and engineer who taught at the University of California, Berkeley until he was fired for toppling over statues he considered eyesores.
Burgess is credited with these two bon mots:
"If in the last few years you haven't discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You may be dead." Gelett Burgess (1866-1951)
"I don't know anything about art, but I know what I like." Gelett Burgess (1866-1951)
Anyway, so it appears a "blurb" has always been treated with some skepticism. I'm not sure it's dealt with the same way today. I know of many people who send out draft copies of books looking for a blurb. Fitting that a word like "blurb" would be created by a poet. What goes into a good blurb? How many adjectives? I think a blurb can die of excess if it's too over the top. A blurb should be honest but not completely devoid of any integrity. Seeing as how blurbs are usually on the cover of a book, it should at the very least cause you to open the book and take a good long look.
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