Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d'Art

I loved this book, and have listened to it twice --quite unusual for me. A darkish, historical comedy; focused on the Impressionist era, artistic inspiration, whimsy, and sacred blue. It's my favorite of Christopher Moore's books. Read it. It's better than you think.

We love the actual artists. We always wanted to know more about how they live. This wonderful fantasy /mystery combines an outrageous play with the artists and their works intertwined in the plot. And funny?

my first christopner moore experience, I heard he is very clever and I guess this book shows it, I was drawn to it because I am a huge fan of the art. but the ending seemed lacking. I think will read more of his works that I have heard great things about

This is a fascinating look at history, art and the imagination of a writer that is caught up in the Impressionists. It is not a laugh out loud comedy, at least not for me but what a romp. Just when you think you know what's going on, you find out that you have not go a clue. Great read and informative too.

Thought the premise of the blue paint and accompanying muse taking others' bodies as an explanation for the "craziness" attached to the behavior of the Impressionsts to be interesting, but in the end felt as though the time spent reading the book could have been put to better use.

After reading seven or eight of Mr. Moore's books I'm amazed at his ability to tie in historical events with good humor and a creative twist. Who would have thought that a story about the color blue could be so entertaining? You just can't help being satisfied.

Christopher Moore has a bizarre sense of humor that some might find adolescent. He also is able to write about art, artists, and draw together a marvelous fiction about french impressionists influenced by a devil. I truely enjoyed the book and would recommend it to my male friends. That being said my husband didn't like it at all.

The comedy is base humor - lots of penis and butt jokes. None of the feel for France of any age is captured. The setting is more like the suburbs of Chicago. The kindle version misses the beauty of the pictures, and all that is left is the silly captions. The research that went into the book is clumsily inserted into the story. I kept wanting to re-edit the whole thing.

Sacre Bleu is a somewhat different than some of the other Christopher Moore books in that it is a little more literate and focused on actual historical figures in the art world, but it is still hilarious. Lots of fun and you can actually learn something about art along the way. His whole concept of the "sacred blue" color traditionally used in paintings of the Virgin Mary's cloak is wildly inventive and Moore traces it back thousands of years. I think it is a terrific book!

I don't think Christopher Moore would be particularly upset if I pointed out that, amongst his oeuvre, some of the books have not required extensive research. He's not always come across to us as a rabidly obsessive seeker after the truth with which to wallpaper the rooms of his fictional mansion. 'Lust Lizard' and others are great, ebullient, from-the-hip novels (in fact there is not a book he's written that doesn't deserve to be bought and read by you) which play vastly and loosely with the imagined possibilities of the world.

For that matter, so does 'Sacre Bleu'. But when the author guy gets his head into the library as well (as he did, for example, with the Biff book), you get a damn good read at the same time as that tipsy dance through the wrong side of likely. I had my Kindle in one hand and iPad in the other, calling up one gorgeous impressionist painting after another, excitedly renewing acquaintance with pictures I'd forgotten I knew from all those hours of walking backwards through the National Gallery, the Tate and various places in Paris hoping to bump accidentally into a beautiful woman. Wonderful.

I don't need to spoil the story. If you like Moore, you'll be delighted to know he is (back) on top form here. If you don't know him, have a go. This book is thoughtful, very nicely researched, silly and compelling all in the right measure. What's not to like.

Moore really let his inner twelve year old run free with this book, whenever he couldn't think of anything funny he returned to those days when yelling "POO!" would dissolve the room into high pitched giggles. Sadly the whole book is an elaborate set up to a rather unfunny penis joke.

I did, however, enjoy the interplay between Lucien and Toulouse-Lautrec and would preferred a LOT more of it and a lot less of the Colorman and his penis. Hell two hundred pages of the donkey Etienne would have been preferable to three fourths of the Colorman's on screen time. Most of the book just wanders around as painters paint and bonk their models and never really finds anything akin to a plot until the last 150 pages or less.

The book easy to read, when it was actually in my hand, but I found that i could set it down and walk away for a month and not really care to return.

Could not put this book down. Very well written and takes you away on a irreverent art history. I finished this book in 2 days, probably because I was bound by a spell to finish reading it. If you're an artist, or even just a fan of the arts, this book is a must read.

While zany and fun, this book also inspired me to investigate the use of blue in Impressionist art. I've spent hours looking at paintings by the masters mentioned in the book. Great fun. The story kept me going, some lines made me laugh out loud, and the writing is delightful. This is my first reading of Christopher Moore, and I'll check out his other books. I'm glad to be reminded that literature with good humor appeals to me.

There's a cosmic joy that comes from Christopher Moore novels, surges from the page. Here he paints for us a joyful tale of colorful characters, important life lessons, important historical debauchery, and bawdy glee. The research Mr. Moore pours into this supernatural tale enriches our experience to the point of near belief. Would that life mimicked a Moore novel! Until it does, read them all, including this fine tale.

I will say it has some wonderful art work inside, and some clever dialog, but the lack of a coherent story defeats the purpose. This was my first attempt with this author and I will not waste any more time on him. A true disappointment.

While Sacre Bleu lacks some of the free-spirited silliness of Moore's other work, it is still fundamentally Moore. At the end of the day, watching the story unfold was as fascinating and entertaining as ever, and I'm still convinced that Moore writes on crack - how does he think this stuff UP?

An absolutely hilarious account of the French impressionists mixed with Moore's trademark mystique of adding one or two supernatural characters to the plot.
Re-read the book while awaiting heart surgery; when I woke up I was in 19th century Paris with Monet, Renoir, and Toulouse-Lautrec. Quite a memorable emergence from anesthesia!!

I found this thoroughly fascinating and surprising. I love the era (late 1800s) , the subject matter (The Impressionists)and the setting (Paris), but it is Moore's deft prose and wit that carries the day. Wow, he has written a lot of other books I can explore!

Get the hard cover - this book contains prints of master artworks & in the paperback they are in black & white so you lose the impact. The hard cover has them in full color.

This books is great & classic Christopher Moore. While fictional there is a lot of fun/interesting/true facts about real art world masters. The story is fun & creative following the madness & beauty of artists & their muse

Chris Moore never disappoints. This is a complex and well-researched, yet funny novel. And if you like art from the Van Gogh era, then you will like this even more. It made me want to look up the artists and their work online while I was reading it.

My husband and I adore Christopher Moore's fabulous and irreverent wit. We read his books out loud to each other and revel in the laughter and intrigue and this book is no
exception. Keep them coming Chris. We love them!

Chris Moore never disappoints. This is a complex and well-researched, yet funny novel. And if you like art from the Van Gogh era, then you will like this even more. It made me want to look up the artists and their work online while I was reading it.

My husband and I adore Christopher Moore's fabulous and irreverent wit. We read his books out loud to each other and revel in the laughter and intrigue and this book is no
exception. Keep them coming Chris. We love them!

Yes, I love Christopher Moore's many off-beat comedies and social commentary and yes, I love art...yet, this was not the Chris Moore I was hoping to find. Paris in the late 1800's was sparkling with talent and Moore takes us into a fantasy version of how and why these events occurred, spurred on by the supernatural. The artists were a hoot, but the book just hummed along with not gripping zingers, sizzling plot twists. Without a clear understanding of the villain until way far into the story, it seemed a bit weary. Do not start with this book if you want to get the full Moore effect. Okay, but would not read again.

I normally love Christopher Moore but this was not one of my favorites of his. Intelligently written, fabulous french art history, loved the pictorial ads, but the air of mystery and quasi comedy didn't strike home for me unfortunately.

Christopher Moore is a literary genius! His writing is such that no matter what mood you are in you will be laughing out loud and wanting more! I've been reading him for as long as I can remember and always look forward for his next book!

I always enjoy Christopher Moore's books. He's one of the few authors I find laugh-out-loud funny. This book, while still funny, has more substance than most of his others. It contains an art history lesson and musing (hah!) about inspiration. The characters--both real and imagined--are wonderful. I didn't have a strong idea about what exactly was going on plotwise until well into the book, which is a good thing. I was pleasantly surprised. And the places are well described also, especially Paris. One other thing--the look of the book is really nice, with paintings scattered throughout and the text in dark blue ink.

Really a fun--and even educational!--read. Highly recommended.

The story is wonderful and interesting. It's very similar to Fool, except Moore chose to weave the story around impressionist artists in France instead of Shakespeare. It begins with the "suicide" of Van Gogh and the tale grows from there. The characters, several impressionist painters of the time are beautifully flawed, as most of his characters are.

I think most Christopher Moore fans will enjoy it; it is as unapologetically bawdy as most of his books but there is a lot of meat to the story.

I only gave this book 4 stars because you lose a lot of the beauty of the hard back in the Kindle version. The actual book is absolutely stunning; the Kindle version still has illustrations but B&W.

Haven't finished it yet. However, since Blue has always been my favorite color, Mr Moore has furthered that love with the history of the "sacredness" and rare making of the color blue with the artists' obsession with painting with this color.

Loved that he included some of the artists' paintings in the book; and especially loved the cover. The uniqueness of this book, I think, is that he further enhances the story with his online Chapter Guide. What a unique concept.

Once again Christopher Moore has written a book I could not put down. I loved this treatise to the color Bleu in all her glory! I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a look deep inside the world of art. Loved it!