Amphigorey Again

Only Edward Gorey can create a perfect blend of inscrutable morbidity with whimsy. His facility with invented words, implied horror, and exquisite art make for a timeless collection. I enjoyed the books as a teenager, and now share these with my daughter.

There's only one master of the macabre. Edward Gorey. This is a fantastic collection for those who find everything he did captivating and a joy to read. I love this. Hunker down with this tome in the Fall.

The two most pressing questions I had about this book were 1) was it "new" (not previously published) work, and 2) how incomplete is the art. The answers are 1) Yes it is all new work and 2) very few of the pieces are sketchy or incomplete. I am very pleased with this volume. It completes my collection of all four of the Amphigory volumes.

Those with a taste for the droll stories and illustrations of Edward Gorey will appreciate this latest volume, previously uncollected works and two unpublished stories, "The Izzard Book", a whimsical take on the letter Z and "La Malle Saignante", a bilingual treatment of early French silent serial movies. Only Gorey's creative and quirky talent could produce the singular images, including rough sketches and unfinished panels, all indicative of a mind churning with intellectual and amazing images, a unique blending of humor and art that touches Gorey's work with true genius. Delightful, charming and amusing, Gorey's approach to art as a view to the world-at-large is an experience to be savored. Soulful eyes, elongated bodies, strangely formed topiaries, elegant, stylish ladies, mustachioed gentlemen and bizarre beasties, from the cantankerous and irreverent to the sublimely confused... all are delightful. In "The Just Dessert (Thoughtful Alphabet XI)", we are treated to a series of curious images and text: "Bewail complications"; "Drivel endlessly"; "Frequent ghastly happenings imply jeopardy"; "Keep laughing mechanically"; Take umbrage"; and "Vilify." Indeed, such selective use of language fortifies the quirky illustrations with otherworldly delight, a grand adventure of the mind and spirit. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the distinctive work of Edward Gorey, Amphigorey Again is an invitation to the imagery and whims of a man whose perceptions are skewed by a particular and hilarious genius, an appreciation of the ordinary as extraordinary, a perfect blend of language and art, a joyful romp through the vast chambers of genius constantly reinventing itself. For those who already love Gorey, this volume is a welcome addition to a marvelous collection of work. Luan Gaines/ 2006.

Amphigorey Again is the fourth, and possibly last, anthology of works by American author and artist Edward St. John Gorey (1925-2000). Picking up where the previous anthology Amphigorey Also (1983) left off, Amphigorey Again reaches as far back as 1968 with the inclusion of The Other Statue and Categor y in 1974, at the same time encompassing the last of Gorey's work with The Headless Bust (1999). What lies within? The Galoshes of Remorse, a periodical illustration Signs of Spring, a newspaper feature Seasonal Confusion, a newspaper feature Random Walk, a newspaper feature Categor y, trade publication Bibliophile (unlisted pen and ink and watercolor illustration) The Other Statue, trade publication 10 Impossible Objects (abridged), pen and ink illustrations The Universal Solvent (abridged), privately published Scènes de Ballet, privately published postcards Verse Advice, a newspaper feature The Deadly Blotter: Thoughtful Alphabet XVII, privately published Creativity, a periodical pen and ink illustration The Retrieved Locket, privately published The Water Flowers, trade publication The Haunted Tea-Cozy, trade publication Christmas Wrap-Up, a pen and ink and watercolor illustration The Headless Bust, trade publication The Just Dessert: Thoughtful Alphabet XI, privately published The Admonitory Hippopotamus, a previously unpublished work Neglected Murderesses, privately published postcards Tragédies Topiaries, privately published postcards The Raging Tide, trade publication The Unknown Vegetable, privately published Random Walk, a newspaper feature Serious Life: A Cruise, a newspaper feature Figbash Acrobate, privately published La Malle Saignante, a previously unpublished work The Izzard Book, by Mrs. Regera Dowdy, a previously unpublished work Two previously unpublished works, The Admonitory Hippopotamus and The Izzard Book, are supposedly unfinished. The other unpublished work, La Malle Saignante is wonderfully conceived and realized; I wonder why it never made it to the bookshelves. But it is The Admonitory Hippopotamus I am especially fond. A compact epic, a touching and vivid portrayal, it is all text. Originally announced in the first Amphigorey back in 1972, I always kept a third eye out for its debut. Though it lacks illustrations, I easily let my mind cast the parts of Angelica and Sneezby with Gorey demoiselles and hippo in the manner of The Nursery Frieze (1964) - and am pleased as punch it's included. The newspaper and periodical features are satisfying treasures. Unless one was diligently clipping NY Times Magazine and NY Times Book Review and the like, one would've missed most of these. These seasonal limericks and short stories remind me how versatile Gorey was with the English, and occasionally French, languages. His Dogear Wryde postcard series, like Tragédies Topiaries, are strong examples of Gorey's abili