Thursday, September 23, 2010

back cover blurb etc

I decided to change the title, partly in response to the feedback I got from respected friends and colleagues, and partly because I sensed that some people might think it was a poli sci textbook! So I decided to go with an earlier title that refers back to one of Charles Fourier's more bizarre predictions: "And the seas shall turn to lemonade". Since the figure of Fourier figures prominently in the book, the title seemed apt, and also tips off the humour. It also tipped me in the direction of a different cover idea, and since I seemed to be on a roll, I then decided to write up the back cover blurb....always tricky, especially when you have to write it yourself, and not the marketing wing of the publishing house! Here is what I propose; all comments welcome:

A darkly humorous romp through the tortuous relationship between two academic misfits: Tabitha Black, obsessive list-maker and modern day utopian, and Nathaniel Speck, the oafish yet elegant medieval scholar whose dubious achievements include the publication of a hilarious guide to household management in the modern universe. Their relationship is played out against the incestuous under-life of a small university town, where residents and professors eye each other with equal unease. As Tabitha searches for just the right inhabitants for her utopian stronghold, a host of characters join in: Fiona, Nathaniel's foul-mouthed and maternal crush; Lee-Ann, a specialist in frog hibernation who disocvers a profitable business in an unexpected place; and even Tabitha's dead mother, who dispenses unwanted advice from the clouds.

Witty, humane and ultimately tender, And the seas shall turn to lemonade explores the many sides of love itself, and how it can exist all around you without ever being seen.

So, all comments welcome. Sorry to have to call myself witty, but if I don't....ha ha.

2 comments:

  1. Sentences too long for the casual reading one expects of a blurb. A little confusing. the seas shall turn to lemonade should be capitalized or italicized or something to make it stand out as a title.

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  2. Along the lines of Richard Todd's comment, I wonder if the title itself is too long. Not having read the book, however, I'm at a loss to suggest an alternative.

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