'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.'

Blurb Your Enthusiasm
A Cracking Compendium of Book Blurbs, Writing Tips, Literary Folklore and Publishing Secrets
Louise WillderA TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
‘A small masterpiece. There is something funny, notable or awe-inspiring on every single page’ Jenny Colgan, Spectator
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.
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?
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.)
‘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
Reviews
‘The bookiest book about books you’ll ever read – I loved it.’
‘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.’
'A little marvel...consummately brilliant'
‘Very funny, erudite and profound. A delight!’
‘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.’
‘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.’
'Bookworms will devour this'
‘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.’
‘This book is ace! A must-read for any and every writer or book-obsessed person!’
‘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.’
'Studded with jewels'