Author(s): Louise Willder

Literature

'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

This is the outside story of books.

From blurbs to titles, quotes to (checks jacket) cute animal designs - via author feuds, writing tricks, classic literature, bonkbusters, plot spoilers and publishing secrets - discover why it's good to judge a book by its cover. Maybe even this one...

It's good to judge a book by its cover. Drawing on her 25 years writing blurbs for Penguin books, Louise Willder explores the art, anecdote and history of the words that only take a few seconds to read but can determine a book's fate. This illuminating and joyful compendium is about blurbs at their very best and worst. It is also about cover design, movie taglines, adverts, quotes, puns, the creative process, writers from Austen to Orwell and much more. It answers questions such as: Why should adjectives generally be murdered? Which author hated blurbs? Is it ever okay to give away the ending? Why should you never start a blurb with 'When'? Can blurbs be sexist? The story of blurbs is the story of our needs and desires as readers; about who we are and want to be.

Review:
 'A small masterpiece. There is something funny, notable or awe-inspiring on every single page. Some books simply slide into your life like good-humoured old friends. This is undoubtedly one of them.' -- Jenny Colgan * Spectator *
'Truly delightful... charming and gracefully learned... Louise Willder, a copywriter with decades of experience, brings so much joy and, indeed, enthusiasm to her book about books that anyone who revels in reading will find real enchantment here. I couldn't have had more fun.'-- Benjamin Dreyer, author of the New York Times bestseller Dreyer's English'
'I love this book's sheer happiness and humanity. It is rich, wise and soul-awaking, exhilarating-like-the-snowman-flying-through-the-air-of-human-gloriousness. And, God, she's funny. Buy it, read it, give it.'-- Martin Latham, author of The Bookseller's Tale
'This total gem is an illuminating, dazzling, quirky, fascinating, erudite, thought-provoking, hilarious and totally essential celebration of the outside of books. Willder is my new style icon.'-- Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller, Editor's Choice
'Wise and witty...she is full of vim, blessed too with an unusual sense of enquiry, a comic turn of phrase and a talent for investigation into almost every nook and cranny of the business and pleasure of books.'-- Carmen Callil * The Oldie *
'Jammed with funny, curious and stylish thoughts and insights, Blurb Your Enthusiasm will be loved by absolutely everybody with an obsessive interest in books and their appearance.'-- Simon Winder, author of Germania
'Tracking the blurb through history, literary practices, authors' lives, reading habits, and more, Willder opens up the world of wordplay that lies at the heart of writing and publishing.'* Idler *
'Willder's breezy book sweeps across publishing history, imbuing her research and professional expertise with the tantalizing thrill of dinner party gossip ... so smart and witty that you barely realize how much she is teaching about writing'-- Ron Charles * Washington Post *
'Uproarious, gossipy and utterly fascinating: a masterclass in how to judge a book by its cover. It makes words seem weird and wild again.' -- Henry Eliot, author of The Penguin Classics Book
'[Willder] is a charming guide not just to blurbs, but to first lines, hatchet jobs, puffs ... I couldn't, as the cliche goes, put it down.'-- Laura Freeman * The Times, Best Books of 2022 *

Author Biography: Louise Willder has been a copywriter at Penguin Books for twenty-five years. During this time, she estimates she has produced about 5,000 blurbs. She doesn't follow people round bookshops, willing them to buy books she's written the copy for. Really, she doesn't.