Gorey Secrets: Artistic and Literary Inspirations behind Divers Books by Edward Gorey

by Malcolm Whyte, Peter F. Neumeyer (Foreword by)

Overview

Edward Gorey (1925-2000) was a fascinating and prolific author and artist. Of the one hundred delightful and fascinating books that Gorey wrote and illustrated, he rarely revealed their specific inspirations or their meanings. Where did his intriguing ideas come from? In Gorey Secrets: Artistic and Literary Inspirations behind Divers Books by Edward Gorey, Malcolm Whyte utilizes years of thorough research to tell an engrossing, revealing story about Gorey's unique works.

Exploring a sampling of Gorey's eclectic writings, from The Beastly Baby and The Iron Tonic to The Curious Sofa and Dracula, Whyte uncovers influences of Herman Melville, Agatha Christie, Edward Lear, the I Ching, William Hogarth, Rene Magritte, Hokusai, French cinema, early toy books, eighteenth-century religious tracts for children, and much more.

With an enlightening preface by Gorey collaborator and scholar Peter F. Neumeyer, Gorey Secrets brings important, uncharted insight into the genius of Edward Gorey and is a welcome addition to collections of both the seasoned Gorey reader and those who are just discovering his captivating books.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496831552
Publisher:	University Press of Mississippi
Publication date:	11/01/2021
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Malcolm Whyte is a graduate of Cornell University and has created more than two hundred books for readers of all ages. He published Gorey Games and Goreyography and curated nine exhibitions of Edward Gorey's books, drawings, and graphics, for two of which he wrote and produced catalogs. Whyte is a collector of illustrated books and contemporary American art including original cartoon art, American Indian art, and old master prints. Peter F. Neumeyer collaborated on three books with Edward Gorey and is editor of Floating Worlds: The Letters of Edward Gorey and Peter F. Neumeyer. He has taught at Harvard University, Stony Brook University, and San Diego State University.

Table of Contents

Foreword Peter F. Neumeyer xi

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction 3

The Gilded Bat and The Lavender Leotard 9

The Lost Lions 15

The Gashlycrumb Tinies 23

The Awdrey-Gore Legacy 27

The Eclectic Abecedarium 33

The Beastly Baby 37

E. D. Ward, A Mercurial Bear 45

The Loathsome Couple 51

The Tunnel Calamity 57

The Stupid Joke 61

The Glorious Nosebleed 69

The Pious Infant 73

Jack the Giant-Killer 77

Rumpelstiltskin 83

The Iron Tonic 87

The Curious Sofa 93

The Floating Elephant/The Dancing Rock 103

The Hapless Child 107

The Jumblies and The Dong with a Luminous Nose 113

The Object Lesson 123

Le Mélange Funeste and The Dripping Faucet 129

Dracula: a Toy Theatre 135

Afterword 145

Notes 147

Selected Bibliography 153

Index 155