September 25, 2015

Beguilingly Stunning, Exquisitely Crafted & Crackling with Wit

Many thanks to Pound Ridge Authors Society for sharing this audacious, hilariously spell-binding, crispy orgiastic, superbly poignant, spell-binding yet spare, blog by Katy Waldman.

Click here (or see below) for a giggle, guffaw, chuckle or laugh-out-loud look at blurbs used to describe the works of National Book Award nominees.




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National Book AwardsJesse Ball, A Cure for Suicide

Jesse Ball, A Cure for Suicide

beguiling 
elegant, spellbinding
subtle and breathtaking
magnetic, suspenseful, occasionally heart-rending
full, satiating
richly adorned with sensuous scenes

Karen E. Bender, Refund

fine, crisp
crackling with energy and wit
vivid, believable
poignant, absorbing
superb
both lean and expansive
absolutely masterful
brilliantly constructed
propulsive but tightly crafted
polished, quietly captivating
delicately lyrical and emotionally direct
ineffably sad and deeply inspiring
mesmerizing
wondrous
deeply optimistic…brutally direct
restrained, exquisite, and unexpectedly tender

Angela Flournoy, The Turner House

epic, ambitious, and strikingly executed
cracklingly alive
utterly unsentimental
spare, headstrong
utterly moving and tough as nails
commanding and unputdownable
charming and funny while being whip-smart and profound

Lauren Groff, Fates and Furies

sumptuous
red-hot
surprising, wild, with pockets of calm that build anticipation for the next squall
audacious and gorgeous
deliciously voyeuristic but also wise on the simultaneous comforts and indignities of romantic partnership
Complex, sexy and achingly beautiful
almost-wizardly
lithe and poetic, unrolling like a glimmering carpet to the gray and uncertain territory of her characters’ inner conflicts

Adam Johnson, Fortune Smiles

weird, indelible
audacious
perceptive and brave
long, fearless
rigorously limber
wise, poignant and important
superb ... explosive
alive and limitless
slightly surreal
sinewy

T. Geronimo Johnson, Welcome to Braggsville

oh-my-God-listen-up
even tragic, in the most classic meaning of the word
amusing…unpredictable
madcap, satirical
profane
uncanny
deeply pleasurable
deeply disturbing
ghastly
thoroughgoing and extreme
orgiastic

Edith Pearlman, Honeydew

vinegary
acidic
droll
set down like a light footprint that nevertheless fixes itself in one's memory as though pressed in wet cement
tender and distant
like entering the jet stream of some stranger's life
wise, yes, but also unfailingly generous
refreshingly loose
intricately imagined
warmly imagined 

Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life

surprisingly subversive
elemental, irreducible, dark, and disturbing
frequently stomach-churning
shrewd
wondrous
harrowing
stunning
audacious
audacious
audacious
audacious

Nell Zink, Mislaid

giddy, lunatic, perverse, and irresistible
penetrating and agile
lucid
sly, low-affect
as absurd and hilarious as it is tragic and seeing
hilarious and genius
refreshingly eccentric
wickedly humorous
beautifully braided into understated prose
outlandish
zany
zany-brainy
Katy Waldman is Slate’s words correspondent. 

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