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I Never Read the Backs of Books MAG
June 20, 2022
I never read the backs of books
Because no synopsis ever tells
you how
The book will make you feel
They never foreshadow
The extravagant laughter in your esophagus
How you become drunk
on the characters’ humor
The way you involuntary sprint
in place as they admit their love for each other
How you catch yourself grinning like a fool
The way you blush in their
forbidden kiss
How your heart (enlaced in shame) becomes lighter
The way the character whispers
in your ear, “you’ll be alright, kid.”
How your eyes fill with pools
The way you fall in love with life again
How these 300 or so, liberate you
From all the pain and rejection
in your reality
They always fail to tell you
So I never read the backs of books
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This article has 2 comments.
PineApplemushrooMs PLATINUM said...
on Jun. 27 2022 at 2:52 pm
As an avid reader and amateur writer, I try to find these emotions in books I read and write. I know that no synopsis will ever showcase the beauty of the worlds found in words.
DesdemoniaDee SILVER said...
on Jun. 24 2022 at 1:40 pm
Great poem! It reminds me of something Ernest Hemingway said: "All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse, the sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. If you can give that to people, then you are a writer. "
Stories change a person. For intersectional individuals, such as myself– representation is especially vital. Yet I find that the synopsis of a book often fails to serve the story itself justice. If you read the description of your favorite movie, for example, chances are you will find discrepancies in its vaguely written summary. Forget about the cover- a painfully basic synopsis, can easily discourage readers. That’s what so many people fail to realize. That the value of a book is often found in the perception of the reader. Those promises you carry in your pocket, those newfound perspectives. Life after reading. That is what makes stories powerful. That’s what changes an individual. In “I Never Read The Backs of Books”, I write about this phenomenon; in hopes that others can relate.
- Avocado, 17