If you read a lot of mainstream book jackets, book reviews, and/or book blurbs, you find yourself swimming in a sea of hyperbolic adjectives with a very low turn-over rate. I've compiled a list of the most egregious offenders that should, at all costs, be avoided from here on out.
A – Arresting
B – Bold, brave, beautiful
"Levine evokes the early stages of longing with beautiful, arresting prose." - wikipedia
C – Complex, compelling, captivating
D – Devastating, dystopian
"Both utterly realistic and fantastically dystopian...”- Minnesota Herald Tribune
E – Exhilarating, explosive, epic
"Lyrical and explosive, this debut book of poetry explores Alex Lemon's experiences as a brain surgery patient." - Tin House
F – Forceful
G – Gripping
H – Haunting
"Haunting.” - Real Simple
I – Irreverent, inspired, intimate
J – Juvenile
K – Killer
L – Luminous, lyrical
See entry "E" above.
M – Moving
...turns what might have been just a clever mash-up of disaster epic with sensitive young-adult, coming-of-age story into a genuinely moving tale that mixes the real and surreal... -New York Times
N – Noteworthy
O – Of-the-times, observant
P – Post-modern, profound, poignant
[[via]] |
R – Reminiscent, redemptive, riveting, remarkable
S – Suspenseful, stunning, stirring, smart, sentimental, subtle
“Haunting…a bittersweet coming-of-age tale…tender but unsentimental and buoyed by subtle wit” - People
T – Tasteless
U – Understated, uplifting, universal
Playing out almost ballet-like, not only because of the landscapes or timeless (and of course, melancholic) Wagner soundtracking - but the sheer understated drama and tragedy of it all is incredible. - melancholia tumblr
V – Vigorous
W – Whimsical, witty
Y – Youthful
I'm in no way walking away from this blameless, either... But I do feel a new zeal for challenging The Generic.
What are your buzz-word pet peeves?
2 comments:
I'm dying over the photo reference for "quirky."
Cool post! I never read the back of books for just this reason. They say virtually nothing, lol.
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