Red Sea-Red Square-Red Thread

An intellectual tour de force in five acts. Goehr traverses broad swathes of European cultural history, including a stunning philosophical and theological reading of Puccini's La Boheme, with brilliance and an underlying smile, offering lovers of the arts a trove of delights as she builds her argument about the nature of art itself * Anne Midgette, music critic, (formerly) The Washington Post, The New York Times *
Lydia Goehr's account of narratives and philosophies of emancipation is a stunning achievement of narrative and philosophical emancipation in its own right. Red Sea-Red-Square-Red Thread is tailor-made for addressing the pressing question of where our best images of freedom in history are hiding, especially when the surprisingly difficult answer is: in plain sight. * Gregg Horowitz, The Pratt Institute (Emeritus) *
Many books in one: an homage to the great Arthur Danto, an intellectual memoir, a philosophical detective story, an anatomy of anecdotes, and a dazzling display of erudition. Goehr has composed a magical, indeed scintillating synthesis of intellectual history, art history, music history and comparative literature—not to speak of philosophical inquiry. * Paul Barolsky, University of Virginia *
Beginning with the simplest of questions, Red Sea—Red Square—Red Thread offers a compelling, insightful, and engaging treatise on the nature of art. It's the Goldberg Variations of philosophical treatises. * James Schmidt, Boston University *
A stunning performance of the birth of philosophy from the emancipatory spirit of modernism. * Michael P. Steinberg, Brown University *
A wonderful book. Goehr takes the reader on a journey—considering how the red square-red sea allegory transforms and appears in unexpected ways in service to a modern idea of freedom and inclusion. A model of how to combine wit and analysis to great effect. * Terry Pinkard, Georgetown University *
Bringing together the histories of art, philosophy, and popular culture into a narrative of human possibility, the book is nothing less than a gift to its culture. * Daniel Herwitz, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor *
A tour de force of theoretical analysis and cultural criticism, Goehr's book charts an unprecedented path through philosophical, musical, literary, and art history. Dazzling in the wit of its style and depth of its content, it reframes our view of every subject it touches upon. * Jonathan Gilmore, City University of New York *
Sprawling and lively, confounding and engaging, and in a word, brilliant...it surely stands as a testament to [Goehr's] lifetime of teaching, writing, reading, viewing, listening, and conversing. It is a book, that teems with curiosity and erudition. More than once, it made me laugh out loud. It rewards sustained reading, and I am glad I read it cover to cover. But it would also reward the occasional perusal of any given passage, if only to give the reader the chance to marvel at the threads, red and otherwise, that it weaves together. * Lydia Moland, European Journal of Philosophy *