- published: 25 Apr 2015
- views: 20362
A blurb is a short summary accompanying a creative work; the word was coined in 1907 by American humorist Gelett Burgess. It may refer to the text on the back of a book but can also be seen on DVD and video cases, web portals and news websites. A blurb may introduce a newspaper or magazine feature story.
The concept of a "brief statement praising a literary product" dates back to medieval literature of Egypt from the 14th century. The concept was known as taqriz in medieval Arabic literature.
The word blurb originated in 1907. American humorist Gelett Burgess's short 1906 book Are You a Bromide? was presented in a limited edition to an annual trade association dinner. The custom at such events was to have a dust jacket promoting the work and with, as Burgess' publisher B. W. Huebsch described it,
In this case the jacket proclaimed "YES, this is a 'BLURB'!" and the picture was of a (fictitious) young woman "Miss Belinda Blurb" shown calling out, described as "in the act of blurbing."
The name and term stuck for any publisher's contents on a book's back cover, even after the picture was dropped and only the complimentary text remained.
Once there was a young boy in Berlin
Playing in the streets as the war was flying in
Raining down from heaven came the fire
And burned away his city and desire
Winston Churchill and his secret agents
They had their meetings there in London town
Back in Germany one man had made the people see
It was a vision that could never be - No
The SS-Officer of death he was just a marionette
An evil play inside the game
Freezing out the truth sending coldness to the youth
Their souls were taken
New Europa blue the land
Longing for glory it's the nature of man
From New York City to the heart of Tokyo
Breaking news on every radio
The war was over they all gathered round to celebrate
Smiling faces on the streets of faith
Their freedom they had won
No more hiding from the sun
And so many moved to far away
They never forgot the burning
And how their lives were turning
Into something new
Oh Europa new the land
Remember the story when the fire began
Time is moving faster as we strive to earn our holidays
Dealing business in our western way
Romantic places for the perfect modern love affair
To Paris or Rome I'll take you there
The darkness of our history shadowed by the light we see
We are the future
Blue Europa fatherland
We sail on forever to explore and expand Europa
It's possible our plan