Do celebrity book blurbs 'blackmail' readers?

Man Booker prize judge Colin Thubron has complained this week that star endorsements bully readers into admiring books, but it’s long been standard practiceSetting cats among pigeons has long been an unofficial part of the contract for judges of the Booker prize. Remember Chris Mullin’s insistence on “zip–along” novels, or, way back in 1992, AN Wilson’s condemnation of the prize itself as “essentially trivial”? This year’s flurry of fur and feathers was provoked by a tirade from Colin Thubron on celebrity endorsements. Some blurbs, said the veteran travel writer, “almost blackmail” readers into feeling that “you’re either intellectually or morally incompetent if you don’t love this book or you’ve failed if you haven’t understood it”. Some people, he felt, “seem to earn their living … saying: ‘This is the most profound book of our generation.’”Starting our Iris Murdoch bookclub with this '69 @PenguinUKBooks edition - you don't find blurbs like this any more! pic.twitter.com/P2XUvgtKAM Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2017-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2016: Reeling In Readers: Three YA Authors Tell How It’s Done

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2016: We Need Diverse Books Keeping It Real

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2016: Marissa Meyer and Leigh Bardugo: Fractured Fairy Tales for Gen Z Readers

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2016: Book Besties: Frenemies, Love, and Crushes

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Engadget | 2016-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Guardian | 2016-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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