The Primary Colors: Three Essays

287 Pages·1994·7.819 MB·English

by  Alexander Theroux

Three Essays
C ' ^o/e.m^Ttrwu.
^/be Primary Colors is Alexander Theroux's
collection of essays on the three primary col-
ors: blue, yellow, and red. A fascinating cul-
tural history, these splendid essays extend to
the artistic, literary, linguistic, botanical,
cinematic, aesthetic, religious, scientific,
culinary, climatological, and emotional di-
mensions of each color. Humorous, highly
readable, and anecdotal, the book is virtually
encyclopedic in aim. There is poetry here;
there is also song, fable, opinion, literary
criticism, gossip, history, and fascinating
fact—a fund of curiosa, gleanings of a witty
and penetrating mind. Swift is here, so is
the lexicographic Dr. Johnson. The widest of
readers, Theroux is raconteur, art historian,
and pop culturalist, all at the same time. His
book is a rich and totally captivating tour de
force, a virtuoso performance of a kind that
offers nothing less than a liberal education.
This is a work for artist and art historian,
designer and graphic artist, student and
teacher, and anyone sensitive to the many
and vivid nuances of color, but, best of all, it
remains a complete feast for the general
reader.
i

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Also by Alexander Theroux
NOVELS
Three Wogs
Darconville's Cat
An Adultery
FABLES
The Schinocephalic Waif
The Great Wheadle Tragedy
Master Snickup s Cloak
Julia De Chateauroux; or, The Girl with
Blue Hair and Other Fables
POETRY
The Lollipop Trollops

Three Essays
Henry Holt and Company New York
Henry Holt and Company, Inc.
Publishers since 1866
115 West 18th Street
New York, New York 10011
Henry Holt® is a registered
trademark of Henry Holt and Company, Inc.
Copyright © 1994 by Alexander Theroux
All rights reserved.
Published in Canada by Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd.,
195 Allstate Parkway, Markham, Ontario L3R 4T8.
Portions of this book appeared previously in
Art & Antiques and Harpers Magazine.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Theroux, Alexander.
The primary colors : three essays / Alexander Theroux.
p. cm.
1. Colors—Social aspects. 2. Colors—Psychological aspects.
I. Title.
QC 495.8.T44 1994
814'.54—dc20 93-29692
CIP
ISBN 0-8050-3105-7
Henry Holt books are available for special
promotions and premiums. For details contact:
Director, Special Markets.
First Edition—1994
Printed in the United States of America
All first editions are printed on acid-free paper. «>
10 98765432