Sacre Bleu: A Comedy D'Art

It is the color of the Virgin Mary's cloak, a dazzling pigment desired by artists, an exquisite hue infused with danger, adventure, and perhaps even the supernatural. It is . . .

Sacre Bleu

In July 1890, Vincent van Gogh went into a cornfield and shot himself. Or did he? Why would an artist at the height of his creative powers attempt to take his own life . . . and then walk a mile to a doctor's house for help? Who was the crooked little "color man" Vincent had claimed was stalking him across France? And why had the painter recently become deathly afraid of a certain shade of blue?

These are just a few of the questions confronting Vincent's friends—baker-turned-painter Lucien Lessard and bon vivant Henri Toulouse-Lautrec—who vow to discover the truth about van Gogh's untimely death. Their quest will lead them on a surreal odyssey and brothel-crawl deep into the art world of late nineteenth-century Paris.

Oh la la, quelle surprise, and zut alors! A delectable confection of intrigue, passion, and art history—with cancan girls, baguettes, and fine French cognac thrown in for good measure—Sacre Bleu is another masterpiece of wit and wonder from the one, the only, Christopher Moore.

"Moore turns things on their head with an edgy 21st-century perspective that makes the story line as sharp, surly and slick as a game of Grand Theft Auto... It's a manic, masterly mix-winning, wild and something today's groundlings will applaud."— Publishers Weekly on FOOL

"[H]ilarious, educational, and original. . . . [I]t is difficult to put the book down, for there are astonishing new developments on every page." —BookPage

"In transforming "King Lear" into a potty-mouthed jape, Moore is up to more than thumbing his nose at a masterpiece. His version of Shakespeare's Fool, who accompanies Lear on his slide from paternal arrogance to spiritual desolation in the original text, simultaneously honors and imaginatively enriches the character." —San Francisco Chronicle on FOOL

"A raunchy slapstick comedy of young vampires in love . . . Moore is in top form, and this reviewer laughed all the way through this page-turner. Enthusiastically recommended." —Library Journal

"If there's a funnier writer out there, step forward." —Playboy

"An instant classic . . . terrific, funny and poignant. —Rocky Mountain News

"Moore is a very clever boy when it comes to words. There are good chuckles to be had in this tale. ...Whether you need to read the original King Lear before you read Moore's Fool is debatable. Seems a fool's errand to us. Just enjoy." —USA Today on FOOL

"It's hard to resist so gleeful a tale of murder, witchcraft, treason, maiming, and spanking. . . . Moore's deft ear for dialogue keeps the pages turning . . . Fool is a wickedly good time." —Christian Science Monitor on FOOL

"I can't emphasize enough how funny BITE ME is." —Bookreporter.com

"A page-turner.... Your 'Lear' can be rusty or completely unread to appreciate this new perspective on the Shakespearean tragedy. That is if you enjoy a whole lot of silly behind the scenes of your tragedies." —Valdosta Times (Georgia) on FOOL

"Funny, literate, smart and sexy, all at once!" —Jeff Lindsay, author of the Dexter series, on FOOL

"[W]all-to-wall, farcical fornicating and fighting...a jolly good time can be had." —Booklist on FOOL

"A vampire comedy that's witty, bright and funny." —People

"Less may be more, but it isn't Moore. Wretched excess doth have power to charm, and there are great reeking oodles of it strewn throughout these irreverent pages." —Kirkus Reviews on FOOL

"A laugh-a-page novel that's raunchy and irreverent." —USA Today

"Moore has produced eight books that deftly blend surreal, occult and even science-fiction doings with laugh-out-loud satire of contemporary culture. Powered by engines of the abnormal and unlikely, his tales feature eccentric lowlifes who find their desperate existences hilariously remade by intrusions from other spheres." —Washington Post Book World

"Often funny, sometimes hilarious, always inventive, this is a book for all, especially uptight English teachers, bardolaters and ministerial students of the kind who come to our doorstep on Saturday mornings." —Dallas Morning News on FOOL

"Mingling comedy and mystery, Moore crafts an intricate story that teases the reader with numerous twists and bawdy humor....[T]his is an imaginative and amusing look at the Impressionist era, and Moore's prose is fresh and engaging." —Booklist

"Art history is playfully--and perilously--rewrtitten in this ambitious novel....fans of Moore's mix of wit and slapstick will be pleased." —Publishers Weekly on SACRE BLEU

"Moore's humor is, as ever, sweetly juvenile, but his arty comedy also captures the courage and rebellion of the Impressionists with an exultant joie de vivre." —Kirkus Reviews on SACRE BLEU

"[A]surprisingly complex novel full of love, death, art, and mystery....Don't let Moore's quirky characters and bawdy language fool you. His writing has depth, and his peculiar take on the impressionists will reel you in....this is a worthy read. " —Library Journal (starred review) on SACRE BLEU

Absolutely nothing is sacred to Christopher Moore. The phenomenally popular, New York Times bestselling satirist whom the Atlanta Journal-Constitution calls, "Stephen King with a whoopee cushion and a double-espresso imagination" has already lampooned Shakespeare, San Francisco vampires, marine biologists, Death...even Jesus Christ and Santa Claus! Now, in his latest masterpiece, Sacre Bleu, the immortal Moore takes on the Great French Masters. A magnificent "Comedy d'Art" from the author of Lamb, Fool, and Bite Me, Moore's Sacre Bleu is part mystery, part history (sort of), part love story, and wholly hilarious as it follows a young baker-painter as he joins the dapper Henri Toulouse-Lautrec on a quest to unravel the mystery behind the supposed "suicide" of Vincent van Gogh.

Christopher Moore is the author of twelve previous novels: Practical Demonkeeping, Coyote Blue, Bloodsucking Fiends, Island of the Sequined Love Nun, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, Lamb, Fluke, The Stupidest Angel, A Dirty Job, You Suck, Fool, and Bite Me. He lives in San Francisco, California.