You will either love or loathe this blurb. It has the same effect as James Frey himself. But even its biggest detractors will have to admit that it deserves to be called a Fixabook Power Blurb. It does exactly what every blurb should do — it challenges, intrigues and excites the reader.
The complete and confident focus on the author stops you in your tracks. This is a fiction blurb unlike any other. Particularly clever is the way in which the first paragraph, by moving from negative to positive statements, plays with the reader’s emotions and underlines why Frey has such a polarising effect.
The shout-out is also cleverly pitched:
“Now James Frey has written his greatest work, his most revolutionary, his most controversial.”
All three of these are bold, confident claims which challenge readers to agree or disagree — a clear call to action to pick up the book and find out what it’s all about. This challenge is reiterated in the Evening Standard review.
The review quotes, too, are well chosen to offer differing perspectives. The Time review jolts the reader yet again, as nothing else on the cover has suggested Frey is “entertaining”. This adds yet another layer of interest to an already compelling blurb.
What do you think? What we love about this is that it forces everyone to have an opinion.
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