Description
A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
‘A small masterpiece. There is something funny, notable or awe-inspiring on every single page’ Jenny Colgan, Spectator
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A joyful celebration of books – the perfect gift for bibliophiles, word lovers and anyone who’s ever wondered, should you judge a book by its cover?
We love the words in books – but what about the words on them? How do they work their magic? Here is a book about the ways books entice us to read them: their titles, quotes, covers and, above all, blurbs – via authors from Jane Austen to Zadie Smith, writing tricks, classic literature, bonkbusters, plot spoilers and publishing secrets. It’s nothing less than the inside story of the outside of books.
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And it answers questions like:
- Why do some authors hate blurbs so much they burn their own books?
- Should all adjectives be murdered?
- Is blurbing sometimes maybe lying?
- Is it true that (checks jacket) you need an animal on a book’s cover to make it a bestseller?
- What are the most terrible blurbs of all time? Â
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Join Penguin publishing word wizard Louise Willder – five thousand blurbs written, mostly avoiding the phrase ‘unputdownable tour-de-force’ – to discover why we should judge a book by its cover. Even this one. (It’s an unputdownable tour-de-force.)
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‘The bookiest book about books you’ll ever read – I loved it’ Lucy Mangan
‘Truly delightful…I couldn’t have had more fun’ Benjamin Dreyer
‘Very funny, erudite and profound. A delight!’ Nina Stibbe
