On Being Blue: A Philosophical Inquiry

...beautiful even when I had no idea what was going on for the first several pages. I don't know if this problem was an aesthetic or intellectual challenge. However, I think I found another writer that will take up considerable space on my shelves. My first Gass book is not my last _On Being Blue_ is a light, ethereal piece of beauty with the density of elemental lead. The price of admission is low, but you can take away so much. Don't limit yourself and open your arms and mind.

Linguistic creme brulee. Rich, ornate, evocative; more than a philosophical inquiry, a an almost stream-of-consciousness meditation on the ways in which the word blue has been used by literature and culture in the twentieth century. A mood piece. Be forewarned: Gass's standards are utterly bizarre, and his "blue period" is misogynistic in the extreme. He relishes the tumescent meanings of blueness, but the only good "blue" scenes, in his view, are those that describe violent rape or abuse. Only if a woman is black and blue and bleeding does the blueness of the language succeed. Not for the faint-hearted, and far more Sade than sexy. Expect no wisdom, but read it for what it is: a peculiar man's lyrical virtuosity.

If I am any sort of example, you will not be sure what this book is about, until you're through. Keep at it. On the way, it's one of the most wondrous pieces of writing I've encountered. When you're there, if I am any sort of example, you will weep (for the joy of affirmation, mostly) and start again.

A great read! This interesting study on language has the added benefit of shocking anyone who rudely reads a few lines over your shoulder.

Sadly often difficult to find; thankfully recently reprinted, On Being Blue stands as a must read for anyone who loves language--writer or reader. Gass' prose instructs as it entertains and enlightens. This gem of a book purports to be about a single word. Blue. Yet it manages, in a very few pages, to speak cogently of how all words gather meaning "like lint in a deep pocket," of the blueness (eroticism) in writing and of writing