Blurb

Blurb

A blurb is a short summary or some words of praise accompanying a creative work, usually referring to the words on the back of the book but also commonly seen on DVD and video cases, web portals and news websites.

Today

A blurb on a book or a film can be any combination of quotes from the work, the author, the publisher, reviewers or fans, a summary of the plot, a biography of the author or simply claims about the importance of the work. Many humorous books and films parody blurbs that deliver exaggerated praise by unlikely people and insults disguised as praise.

*Monty Python and the Holy Grail - "Makes Ben Hur look like an Epic"
*1066 and All That - "We look forward keenly to the appearance of their last work"

The Harvard Lampoon satire of "Lord of the Rings", entitled "Bored of the Rings", deliberately used phony blurbs by deceased authors on the inside cover. One of the blurbs stated "One of the two or three books...", and nothing else.

In the 1980s, "Spy Magazine" ran a regular feature called "Logrolling in Our Time" which exposed writers who wrote blurbs for one anothers' books. [http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117932281.html?categoryid=1010&cs=1] On the Internet a blurb is used to give a brief description or promotion of an article or other larger work.

ee also

*Contextomy
*Dust jacket

Notes

References

* [http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/blurb/ The story of Miss Belinda Blurb] at wordorigins.org
* McGlone, Matthew S. (2005). Contextomy: The Art of Quoting Out of Context. "Media Culture, & Society," Vol. 27, No. 4, 511-522.
* [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/rbpebib:@OR(@field(TITLE+@od1(Jacket+of++Are+you+a+bromide+by+Gelett+Burgess++%5BThe+word++blurb++had+its+origin+in+the+exploitation+of+this+book+%5B194+++))+@field(ALTTITLE+@od1(Jacket+of++Are+you+a+bromide+by+Gelett+Burgess++%5BThe+word++blurb++had+its+origin+in+the+exploitation+of+this+book+%5B194+++))) Original dust jacket] at the Library of Congress


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • blurb — [blɜːb ǁ blɜːrb] noun [countable usually singular] informal MARKETING a short piece of writing describing and advertising a book, film, or a new product: • The blurb for her latest book describes her as one of Britain s best loved art critics . * …   Financial and business terms

  • blurb — used by U.S. scholar Brander Matthews (1852 1929) in 1906 in American Character; popularized 1907 by U.S. humorist Frank Gelett Burgess (1866 1951). Originally mocking excessive praise printed on book jackets. Gelett Burgess, whose recent little… …   Etymology dictionary

  • blurb — blurb·ist; blurb; …   English syllables

  • blurb — ☆ blurb [blʉrb ] n. [coined ( c. 1907) by BURGESS (Frank) Gelett, for “self praise, to make a noise like a publisher”] an advertisement or announcement, as on a book jacket, esp. one that is highly laudatory vi. Informal to state in a blurb …   English World dictionary

  • Blurb — bezeichnet: Klappentext auf Buchumschägen eine von Simon Vinkenoog in Paris gegründete Zeitschrift Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung mehrerer mit demselb …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Blurb — er den korte beskrivelse af en bog, som normalt er trykt på bogens omslag. Udtrykket blev skabt af den amerikanske forfatter F.G. Burgess (1866 1951) …   Danske encyklopædi

  • blurb — [blə:b US blə:rb] n [Date: 1900 2000; Origin: An invented word] a short description giving information about a book, new product etc …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • blurb — [ blɜrb ] noun singular information printed on the outside of something, especially something for sale such as a book, to describe it or make it attractive to buy …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • blurb — puff, review, critique, *criticism …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • blurb — ► NOUN ▪ a short promotional description of a book, film, or other product. ORIGIN coined by the American humorist Gelett Burgess (died 1951) …   English terms dictionary

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