Christopher Moore’s latest book, Sacre Bleu, opens with the prologue telling us that this book is about the color blue. How can you write a book about the color blue? This is how. Christopher Moore pulls it off with his great gift of story and humor.
Sacre Bleu begins with the death of Vincent Van Gogh, the artist shooting himself in a corn field and then walking a mile to his doctor for help. But was that all there was to it? What was influencing Vincent Van Gogh to act so strangely? What influences and inspires all of the famous artists through history? What is the secret of the Sacre Blue? And what is so special about this ultramarine blue, this Sacre Bleu?
Christopher Moore answers these questions with his usual hilarity. And like his other books, Sacre Bleu does not disappoint. It is a fun romp through art history, and while the details may not always be exactly accurate (remember Lamb?) it is still a great introduction to some famous paintings. Beautiful color prints throughout the book twill have the average person (meaning me) going, “Oh yeah, I know that painting!”
Now add Moore’s twist to the creation of the artwork, and the painting just got better. Like an image that emerges slowly as the paint is layered onto the canvas, Christopher Moore layers his story. The plot weaves through the Impressionist period with the baker-turned-artist Lucien Lessard and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec trying to figure out what is happening to themselves and their friends. Why do they seem to have lost whole chunks of time with no recollection of where they were and what they were doing? And why are they afraid of the “colorman”? If only the book were true, it would be even better. Or is it true?
And oh yeah, notice, that the book is printed in “sacre bleu” ink, not black, for those of you who are speed reading or using a black and white e-reader. That’ll teach you not to buy the hard copy! And with a book as pretty (and hilarious) as Sacre Bleu, you definitely want a hard copy.
Sacre Bleu is in stores now. (And a note for readers, it is an adult book, so language & content is intended for older readers.)
Novel Novice 
I love Moores books. The first one I read was LAMB. I laughed so hard I almost wet myself several times :).
Sounds like a real riot and one I can’t wait to get my hands on! Now don’t judge me too harshly, but I’ve never read any of Moore’s books. I am officially going to start suggesting to people to listen to clips/read excerpts from books rather than just reading the cover outline. I have The Book Report to thank for this new interest in Moore’s writing; I listen to their radio show (and if I happen to miss it, try to listen to the recorded show on their website bookreportradio) where you get the added benefit of not only hearing the basic outline, but also a clip from the book. It was far more his style of writing that got my interest than the basic story line. While I haven’t read it yet, if others who are unsure want to get an idea, go take a listen to the show, or I see the 1st chapter’s are available to read on the official Chrismoore site.
Thanks for all the insight here. 🙂