A friend of mine actually made up a word for when that happens. He calls it a burfel. That same friend burped until he accidentally threw up in the school library––but that’s a story for another time.

What I’ve been thinking about lately are blurbs––quotes from other authors.
My all-time favorite was Neil Gaiman’s blurb about Sherman Alexie’s YA novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Gaiman wrote:

“I have no doubt that in a year or so it’ll both be winning awards and being banned.” (It won the National Book Awark. Book-ban still pending).

Though this doozy from the author of Little Women runs a close second:

"If Mr. Clemens cannot think of something better to tell our pure-minded lads and lasses, he had best stop writing for them." --Louisa May Alcott, member, Concord Library Committee that banned Huckleberry Finn (1885)

Speaking of blurbage, Zogby and Random House just released a survey of 8,000 readers last week. One figure that jumped out, was that a whopping 35% of respondents said they’ve purchased a book because of a quote from another author.

Is it just me, or does that figure seem a tad high?