The Secret Lives of Color

By: Kassia St. Clair

Narrated by: Kassia St. Clair

One of USA Today's “100 Books to Read While Stuck at Home During the Coronavirus Crisis"

The unforgettable, unknown history of colors and the vivid stories behind them.

“Beautifully written.... Full of anecdotes and fascinating research, this elegant compendium has all the answers.” (NPR, Best Books of 2017)

The Secret Lives of Color tells the unusual stories of 75 fascinating shades, dyes, and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso’s blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green, and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history.

In this book, Kassia St. Clair has turned her lifelong obsession with colors and where they come from (whether Van Gogh’s chrome yellow sunflowers or punk’s fluorescent pink) into a unique study of human civilization. Across fashion and politics, art and war, the secret lives of color tell the vivid story of our culture.

“This passionate and majestic compedium will leave you bathed in the gorgeous optics of light.” (Elle)

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2017 Kassia St. Clair (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Beautifully written and thoughtfully produced.... Full of anecdotes and fascinating research, this elegant compendium has all the answers.” (Nina Martyris, NPR’s Best Books of 2017)

“A kaleidoscope of charming, discursive essays.... A light and lively guide [that] offers plenty of fresh clues for the brain’s colorful calculations.” (The Economist)

Wonderful! Entertaining , informative and thought provoking!

This book was such a surprise! Well written, well read and researched. As a art teacher and artist I am intimately involved with color and the broad spectrum (no pun intended) of what they can do. Once I heard the stories that surround the making and naming of each - individually- it was pure magic! What a task- and what research! And to make it so entertaining! I am always looking for stories to keep my Art History classes awake at 8am. I will definitely listen to each of these, oh so familiarly named colors again and again.Thank you!

Very entertaining!

Really enjoyed listening this audiobook! Wonderfully narrated, information is so easy to absorb! Now I actually Google the color codes of the colors I’ve learned about to use in my business marketing. Loved this!

Super interesting!

Filled with cool stories, I completely enjoyed and am listening again it’s so full of knowledge!

Wonderful read

A loooot of information packed perfectly and succinctly. Loved this book. Narration was fantastic as well. 5 stars .

Great listen!

Loved all the stories about color. We live in a world saturated with color we don’t always realize it has to come from somewhere. I have a new appreciation for dye makers, artists, and God/nature. Author is a great narrator as well.

Fascinating

Fasscinating stories of colors! Thd only difficulty with audio is not seeing the colors.

The Things We Do for Color

I loved the degree of research and how her passion for color shines through in every chapter.

I also loved her seamless integration of fact and quotes into all the ways in which we take color and chemistry for granted.

However, the book was organized by hue and shade, and this made certain sections repetitive. For instance, ultramarine, indigo, woad and Prussian blue all have overlaps that become difficult to read because they are separate sections and that means certain facts naturally recur.

Overall, the depth and beauty of her research and writing, as well as her voice and narration as bonuses makes me recommend this book without hesitation.

I am a dyer, weaver, and spinner

I have become fascinated with color since I began spinning hand dyed wool top. The colors were so vivid and striking! But then gold became plied with purple and the resulting vest is too bold for me! What happened!? I learned about value and complementary colors the hard way. Since then, I have made an effort to learn as much about color, especially about how they interact.

This book touches on many dyes: indigo, madder, cochineal, woad, weld,and others. However, the focus is generally on paints because many of the colors come from minerals (cobalt, iron, gold, lapis lazuli, etc. ) or earths (ochres and clays).

The secret life of color is also a history. When did the color come into and out of fashion? Avocado, anyone? Did girls always wear pink? Not at first; they wore blue and boys wore pink.

The accompanying PDF file offers more colors than were discussed in the book. I still don't know what puce is.

Put Down Your Brush

If you're an artist, put down your brush and savor this fascinating book. You will learn some amazing facts about your favorite colors and be introduced to esoteric colors that you have never heard of. This book may even give you a profound appreciation for the pigments that you can buy so easily today, without risking life, limb and fortune. I'm an artist and loved this book!!

Enjoyed it as short stories

I had never before contemplated the history and methods of various pigment manufacturing. Fascinating stories.