The Invisible Dragon: Essays on Beauty, Revised and Expanded

by Dave Hickey

Book Overview

The Invisible Dragon made a lot of noise for a little book When it was originally published in 1993 it was championed by artists for its forceful call for a reconsideration of beauty--and savaged by... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226333183
• ISBN13: 9780226333182
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Smart book about the nature of beauty and desire

and the role of parental organizations in contemporary society. Hickey's basic premise is that beauty is the agency of visual pleasure. This notion puts Hickey in opposition with a lot of art criticism which is largely concerned with how art is "good for you." Most theorists and scholars are primarily interested in what the art is "saying" -- i.e., interested in art's virtue and ethics but not with its efficacy. Hickey, however, argues that it doesn't matter _what_ the movie is saying unless you like it first. That is, we don't analyze a movie unless we like it. I still don't know if Pulp Fiction, The Silence, or His Girl Friday are good for me, but because I like them, I constantly think about them and their social virtues (if any). Hickey argues that why a work is efficacious in the first place is as important (if not more so) than whether or not its good for you. That's sort of the premise of the book. Hickey explores the reasons why "good for you" replaced "do I like it" and deals with the modern roles of institutions (with nods to Foucault and J. Jacobs) in relation to regulating desire. Hickey's a wonderful writer. The prose is fast, vivid and jocose. Worthwhile for anyone interested in art or beauty.