Amphigorey Also

AMPHIGOREY ALSO is another compendium of Edward Gorey's stories in the form of pen-and-ink drawings with pithy captions. While it doesn't contain his most notorious book--THE GASHLYCRUMB TINIES in the first AMPHIGOREY, I found this to be the most consistent amusing of his three anthologies. The works here are of several different styles. You have relatively substantial stories, such as THE BLUE ASPIC. This tells the tragic love of the deranged fan Jasper Ankle for the diva soprano Ortenzia Caviglia and is full of jokes that will delight opera cognoscenti while probably eluding all else. Also in this category is THE LOATHSOME COUPLE, a delightfully droll tale of a man and woman who fall in love and discover their mutual passion is murdering children, and THE GREEN BEADS where an impoverished child meets a madwoman who turns out to be his long-lost grandmother. Another style is that of drawings on some theme. The first book in the anthology, THE UTTER ZOO, is such a work, a collection of twenty-six drawings of imaginary creatures somewhat in the vein of Borges' BOOK OF IMAGINARY BEINGS. Then there's THE BROKEN SPOKE, purporting to be a collection of postcards about cycling, which is wickedly funny. One will also find writings of totally random humour that explain the rumour that Gorey hit the bottle pretty hard. These include THE PRUNE PEOPLE, a collection of drawings where people go about their daily business and the only off thing is that they have prunes on their necks instead of heads. Also in this vein is LES PASSEMENTERIES HORRIBLES, where various people concentrate on some task unsuspecting that a gigantic passementerie is sneaking up behind them. This is probably the best anthology to start with in uncovering Gorey's work--although I feel THE OTHER STATUE available on its out from Harcourt is the best introduction to this droll author. This anthology is certainly no collection of dead weight, and the quality of the reproductions is higher than in the other two.

Gorey captured and sustained a unique mood: somewhat baffled, somewhat paranoid, seldom decisively either. His characters all seem to stare blankly into the distance. Maybe they're trying to remember somthing that seemed terribly important at the time, maybe they caught glimpses of something ominous out of the corners of their eyes. Maybe they just realized that something is horribly wrong, but no one knows what. I'm never sure whether to laugh out loud at his images or to start looking back over my own shoulder.His penwork is as familiar to PBS "Mystery!" fans as to the Gorey hard-core. He uses color, occasionally, but only to set off the black and white drawings. His little stories approach, but never quite reach either disjointedness or the truly macabre. I'm not quite sure where to file this one, but it seems comfortable half-way between the comics and the fine art.If you are determined to know what's going on, Gorey's work may not be for you - possibly, because Gorey never quite knew either.

What a wonderful compilation of the works of this unusual and extremely gifted artist! While Charles Addams is a household name, that of Edward Gorey still brings looks of puzzlement whenever it comes up in conversation. I personally feel he has never received the acclaim justly due him, but then again, his works certainly will not be to everyone's taste. At times his stories are beyond comprehension, but perhaps that was his intention--to leave us guessing or use our own imagination to fill in the gaps. Be that as it may, the illustrations are worth the price of the book alone. If you love Edward Gorey and would rather have some of his works together in one volume, do yourself a favor and purchase this book. But be prepared to enter his personal weird and at times incomprehensible world.

The third Edward Gorey collection- Dedicated to: The dog at Gay Head :-)Features 17 storiesTHE UTTER ZOO: An alphabet featuring creatures whose names begin with each of the 26 letters, from: "The Ampoo is intensely neat; it's head is small, likewise it's feet" to "About the Zote what can be said? There was just one, and now it's dead"THE BLUE ASPIC: A classic, about Jasper Ankle a VERY obsessed fan of a opera singer named Ortenzia Caviglia who puts the audience in raptures with her arias like: "Gli Occhielli & Lizzia Bordena" (Lizzie Borden!) :-)THE EPIPLECTIC BICYCLE: "It was the day after Tuesday and the day before Wednesday..Embley and Yewbert were hitting one another with croquet mallets"..suddenly they discover a bicycle, and go on an adventure!THE SOPPING THURSDAY: It's raining and Bruno the dog's master cannot find his umbrella! Bruno (a very noble beast) goes off to search for his masters umbrella, passing by many people who are also trying to cope with the weather.THE GRAND PASSION (A novel): A very short novel! About the odd conversation between a woman with a geisha hairdo and a gentleman in a top hat. :-PLES PASSEMENTERIES HORRIBLES: A passementerie is: A dress trimming, as of braid or silk embroidery (The Winston Dictionary College Edition) This story features some very ominous passementeries looming over people and animals, peeking through windows at people. :-P Acting very suspicious!THE ECLECTIC ABECEDARIUM: Another alphabet: "Betray no qualms, when asking for ALMS" "A hidden BIRD is often heard" together with cute little pictures.L'HEURE BLEUE: The title translates to: "The Blue Hour" the sky in the background is colored a beautiful twilight blue. The story features two creautures who resemble dogs, who both have the letter "T" embroidered on their sweaters. The plot follows their many interesting observations, during this "blue hour" :-)...VERY CUTE!THE BROKEN SPOKE: Featuring a variety of "cycling cards" with pictures of a bunch of people (from all walks of life!) on bicycles!THE AWDREY GORE LEGACY: A murder mystery! Who did it?! "One moment she was sitting there. The next, she had vanished into air"! It shows you a selection of weapons which may have been used, an assortment of suspicious characters, and some spots the body may be located. And Englands most sought after detective, a half Irish, half Japanese gentleman: named "Waredo Dyrge" and his inseparable canine companion "Deary"THE GLORIOUS NOSEBLEEED: Yet another alphabet, with charming illustrations..."She wandered among the trees AIMLESSLY" "The creature regarded them BALEFULLY"...."He exposed himself LEWDLY" ;-)THE LOATHSOME COUPLE: May be shocking to SOME, but not me. About the terrible coupling of two loathsome (pathetic and pitiful!) individuals "Harold Snedleigh" & "Mona Gritch" who plan and carry out the murder of children together( those Gorey children are so hapless!). A long story, a Gorey classic and one of my favorites. The plot may make some frown and s

A collection of various works by the devilishly deadpan Gorey, "Amphigorey Also" is a book that demands repeated readings. The book displays Gorey's talents to the fullest, from his painstakingly cross-hatched black-and-white drawings to his more lighthearted color works. This book is a must-read (and a must-own) for Gorey fans as well as the uninitiated.