Eula Bliss shows Blue some love

At The National Book Critics Circle blog, essayist Eula Bliss writes about William H. Gass’ brilliant philosophical inquiry, On Being Blue: “If it were possible to produce a high definition video of what goes on between a great writer and his words, it might look like this — exhibitionist, virtuosic, and true. A bad breath of misogyny kills the thrill every now and again, but the thrust of the argument still feels right. George Orwell (in “Politics and the English Language”) and David Foster Wallace (in “Authority and American Usage”) ask critics (particularly scholars and academics) not to abuse the language, but Gass, through his own fondling, invites us to show it some love.”