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Book Reviews: Amphigorey Too, Edward Gorey
These bind-ups still aren't as ideal a reading experience as individually printed books, and I'm sad that some of my favorites—particularly The Nursery Frieze—have never been reprinted as standalone volumes, because I'd love to own them.
But that Gorey self-published these slight little books & thus afforded himself room for creativity and experimentation and his distinctive niche grim humor, and that we nonetheless retain easy access to them despite the rarity/cost of first editions, and that reading his work in collection encourages a deep-dive into his work, his themes, how books interact with one another—all of these things are gifts. I wish that the collections were strictly chronological because it would help build that knowledge of his body of work, but honestly the arrangements are fine.
As usual, my most favorites/the most remarkable are outside the cut.
Title: The Beastly Baby
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1962)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 341,710
Text Number: 1213
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: This opens the Amphigorey Too collection, and it's the best way to dive back into Gorey. Gorey sometimes punches down, and he certainly leans into ableist tropes here; but this is so wholeheartedly off-color that it can't but be delightful. The thwarted baby-imperilments are fantastic, and have a well-rounded, giddy spite.
Title: The Nursery Frieze
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1964)
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 341,740
Text Number: 1214
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: almost wish this were in alphabetical order, to better sell the conceit and because it if were it would perfectly mimic the "list unusual or tasty words" game that I play to soothe myself to sleep. But I'm still giving this five stars, as it's one of those Goreys I'd like to own and reread ad infinitum. The words selected are often so peculiar as to feel invented; the vaguely-unsettled beasts blob along in deceptive repetition; it throws a banal premise delightfully off-kilter, and I adore it.
1) This blurb/writeup from Dan Koster is so good, particularly "By putting the words in speech bubbles, Gorey encourages the reader to pronounce the words aloud or silently too themselves, savoring their strange syllables."
2) Comments here suggest the beast are capybara; I enjoy and agree.
3) The words are so good, so—as above—fun to say, and I legit thought half of them were invented. Words preserved below, although it's only half-realized without the illustrations. This post contains definitions.
archipelago
cardamon
obloquy
tacks
ignavia
samisen
bandages
wax
gavelkind
tumeric
imbat
cedilla
cassation
hendiadys
quincunx
vanilla
corposant
madrepore
ophicleide
paste
jequirity
tombola
sphagnum
distaste
aceldema
lunistice
yarborough
cranium
febrifuge
ampersand
hubris
geranium
opoanax
thunder
dismemberment
baize
hellebore
obelus
cartilage
maze
anitgropelos
piacle
occamy
whistle
maremma
accismus
badigeon
epistle
quodlibet
catafalque
hiccup
remorse
idioticon
gibus
botargo
divorce
phylactery
gegenschein
clavicle
sago
bellonion
thurible
aphthong
plumbago
amaranth
rhoncus
pantechnicon
hymn
diaeresis
purlicue
sparadrap
whim
cicatrix
salsify
palindrome
bosphorus
narthex
betrayal
chalcedony
phosphorus
ligament
exequies
spandrel
chandoo
gehenna
etui
anamorphosis
glue
wapentake
orrery
aspic
mistrust
ichor
ganosis
velleity
dust
4) Some words are capitalized, for reasons I can't figure (although a few are proper nouns)—probably because they're more pleasing that way.(There's no hidden code in the capitalization and/or letters in the landscape, near as I can find, because I did look.)
Title: The Pious Infant
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1966)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: the closest I can find is 17? info about the original publication of this is hard to come by.
Total Page Count: 341,790
Text Number: 1216
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: This is played so straight that it borderline doesn't work for me. It's legible as a dryly obnoxious, sentimental morality tale, but I don't have strong feelings about it. Perhaps if I were more invested in the type children's literature it satirizes? Perhaps if the ending were more ridiculous?
Title: The Evil Garden
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1966)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 341,770
Text Number: 1215
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: The art here is sparser than Gorey's usual, with thin illustrations on white progressing to inky black panels. The structure and tone is familiar, a vaguely-period banality meeting the bizarre and morbid. It's not-unpleasantly samey—samey, that is, within in the context of Gorey, who is a reliable delight. And sometimes what makes a particular Gorey work is just that it appeals to one's personal aesthetic, and I sure am a sucker for an overgrown and weirdly malicious garden.
Title: The Inanimate Tragedy
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1966)
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 341,850
Text Number: 1218
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Some Gorey is so experimental and deconstructed that it becomes inaccessible. The inanimate cast and nonsensical plot here is the fatal combination—compare The Willowdale Handcar, which is even more nonsensical but feels more like a nested, portentous narrative solely by virtue of a human cast; compare The Untitled Book, which sheds language almost entirely but remains comprehensible by keeping itself local and contained. I find The Inanimate Tragedy interesting as another of these experiments, and I appreciate that the bind-ups mean I've read enough Gorey to make these comparisons. But the plot is a hollow, derivative tragedy which is unmoored by an inanimate cast and repetitious art.
Title: The Gilded Bat
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1966)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 65
Total Page Count: 341,915
Text Number: 1219
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I like this, but with no particular enthusiasm. It's still Gorey, still tragic and satirical, therefore still satisfying. But the ballet aesthetic is what makes it unique, and so it's eclipsed by The Lavender Leotard, which uses it to greater and wrier effect.
Title: The Iron Tonic: Or, A Winter Afternoon in Lonely Valley
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1969)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 35
Total Page Count: 341,950
Text Number: 1220
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: The exaggerated horizontal panels lean into the atmosphere of stretching, inexorable loneliness; Gorey's uniquely pointless titles (titles which, in such a short piece, carry a lot of weight) create an appropriate sense of anticlimax. It's an effective, atmospheric little package: lonely, wintery, absurd, quaint—very Gorey, but the particular setting and stylistic experiments, like the inset circular vignettes, make it stand out within his work.
Title: The Chinese Obelisks
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1970)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 70 (35+35)
Total Page Count: 342,830
Text Number: 1223-1224
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: The Amphigory Too bind-up includes both the draft and final version of this piece, and that peek into Gorey's creative process eclipses the work itself for me. I'm particularly interested to find that the detail I like best, the reoccurring bit of background debris, is absent from the draft—which makes sense, but it's interesting how much it enriches the finished work, inviting the reader to linger on the art. The work itself is one of Gorey's better alphabet poems and has great flow.
Title: The Deranged Cousins
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1971)
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 342,860
Text Number: 1225
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I'm trash for a The Secret History-esque "insular group of ne'er-do-wells destroyed from within by their own bombastic flaws" premise and Gorey's take on it a delight: the off-kilter, detailed inkwork sells the decrepit atmosphere; the indulgent melancholy is balanced by Gorey's ever-ready wry humor; it's theatric and critical, romantic and tragic, and profoundly silly. Insofar as Gorey's consistent, distinctive style means that specific works stand out just because their gimmicks appeal to the individual reader, this one could have been written just for me & I appreciate the gift.
Title: The Eleventh Episode
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1971)
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 342,860
Text Number: 1225
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review:I prefer it when Gorey's series of unfortunate events have a tight focus, as this does—it grounds, or at least contains, the nonsense elements and nails the tragic:comic balance. This has a lovely gothic atmosphere, pleasantly melancholic and sometimes dreamlike, and one of my favorite endings: "'Life is distracting and uncertain,' she said and went to draw the curtain"—pointless and profound.
Title: The Untitled Book
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1971)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 35
Total Page Count: 342,875
Text Number: 1226
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Another of Gorey's experiments in deconstruction, and subsequently I like it more for what it does than for the thing itself. The narrative is primarily nonsense words, and succeeds due to the consistency of the storyboard-esque art panels. There's a fun contrast between the staid repetition of the framing and the non-plussed, white-faced reader stand-in, and the silly, fluid nonsense of the action.
Title: The Lavender Leotard; or, Going a Lot to the New York City Ballet
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1970)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 342,905
Text Number: 1227
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Blithe, snide, snobbish social commentary/aesthetic nonsense about ballet aficionado culture. I'm not invested in this particular gimmick, but this commits itself so entirely that it's nonetheless enjoyable. It's the sort of satire that has its origins in love.
Title: The Disrespectful Summons
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1971)
Rating: 4.5 of 5
Page Count: 15
Total Page Count: 342,920
Text Number: 1228
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Gorey does Lolly Willowes: a sudden dance with the devil means a woman has no choice but to curdle milk and read from Ninety-two Entirely Evil Things to Do before she's swept away to hell. The period-appropriate caricature of feminine respectability applied to witch clichés falls squarely within Gorey's stylistic wheelhouse and has an understated feminist vibe—without the autonomy of, again, Lolly Willowes, but Gorey's take on "well, I suppose I have to be evil now" is deceptively bland and enviously fun. Delightful; I want to read Ninety-two Entirely Evil Things to Do; this isn't perfect, but it's one of my favorite Goreys.
Title: The Abandoned Sock
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1972)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 342,950
Text Number: 1229
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: The novel sock-PoV makes the melancholy elements delightfully ridiculous (for being about a sock) but surprisingly effective (for stirring feelings about ... a sock) in a way which is very Gorey. So this is enjoyable—but it doesn't ever exceed that gimmick and doesn't stand out within Gorey's body of work.
Title: The Lost Lions
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1973)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 342,980
Text Number: 1230
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I continue to appreciate Gorey's use of deceptive titles, which in such short works carry a lot of weight—and so this title (mis)direct the work's focus such that the actual theme is a surprisingly effective & affecting reversal, i.e. the lions aren't really the ones who are lost. This is more melancholy than tragic, but it still feels pretty routine for Gorey—in a pleasant way! but it doesn't stand out from his body of work.
Title: Story for Sara: What Happened to a Little Girl
Author: Edward Gorey, Alphone Allais
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1971)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 30 [I'm guessing, can't find details on original publication & have since returned by reprint and can't count panels]
Total Page Count: 343,010
Text Number: 1231
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Apparently a translation and illustration of a poem by Alphonse Allais, who I've never read. But it's a natural fit for Gorey, who does great work both with apparently-imperiled-but-actually-evil children and with series of unfortunate event narratives, and this combines both to fun effect. Delightfully vicious, with a sweet zinger.
Title: Salt Herring
Author: Edward Gorey, Charles Cros, Alphonse Allais
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1971)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 50
Total Page Count: 343,060
Text Number: 1232
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Credited to Charlos Cros and Alphonse Allais, this piece has a storied history. Regardless, it's a natural fit to Gorey. Some of his work is so simple as to feel slight; this takes that and points it, a nonsense work for the sake of nonsense, with appropriately off-kilter panels that rotate orientation halfway through. Delightful!
Title: Leaves from a Mislaid Album
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1972)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: ~20, guessing again
Total Page Count: 343,080
Text Number: 1233
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Like The West Wing, this is a wordless work given context only by the title. The West Wing is better—its mysterious interiors invite investigation, so their haunting atmosphere really lingers. These are portraits, and perforce more explicable; the atmosphere is instead tropey and ominous, with shadow-faced figures and eyelines leading out of frame. But the overall effect is successful, especially in collection with other Gorey—his works are short, so every word matters; and in their absence, every detail of the inkwork is precious. (Also, the Doubtful Guest is there!)
Title: A Limerick
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1972)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 5
Total Page Count: 343,085
Text Number: 1234
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I don't like Gorey's limericks in collection—they grow too mean—but as a standalone work, elaborated into a micro-comic, one is much more tolerable. And this one rhymes trajectory/rectory, which is flawless.
But that Gorey self-published these slight little books & thus afforded himself room for creativity and experimentation and his distinctive niche grim humor, and that we nonetheless retain easy access to them despite the rarity/cost of first editions, and that reading his work in collection encourages a deep-dive into his work, his themes, how books interact with one another—all of these things are gifts. I wish that the collections were strictly chronological because it would help build that knowledge of his body of work, but honestly the arrangements are fine.
As usual, my most favorites/the most remarkable are outside the cut.
Title: The Beastly Baby
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1962)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 341,710
Text Number: 1213
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: This opens the Amphigorey Too collection, and it's the best way to dive back into Gorey. Gorey sometimes punches down, and he certainly leans into ableist tropes here; but this is so wholeheartedly off-color that it can't but be delightful. The thwarted baby-imperilments are fantastic, and have a well-rounded, giddy spite.
Title: The Nursery Frieze
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1964)
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 341,740
Text Number: 1214
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: almost wish this were in alphabetical order, to better sell the conceit and because it if were it would perfectly mimic the "list unusual or tasty words" game that I play to soothe myself to sleep. But I'm still giving this five stars, as it's one of those Goreys I'd like to own and reread ad infinitum. The words selected are often so peculiar as to feel invented; the vaguely-unsettled beasts blob along in deceptive repetition; it throws a banal premise delightfully off-kilter, and I adore it.
1) This blurb/writeup from Dan Koster is so good, particularly "By putting the words in speech bubbles, Gorey encourages the reader to pronounce the words aloud or silently too themselves, savoring their strange syllables."
2) Comments here suggest the beast are capybara; I enjoy and agree.
3) The words are so good, so—as above—fun to say, and I legit thought half of them were invented. Words preserved below, although it's only half-realized without the illustrations. This post contains definitions.
archipelago
cardamon
obloquy
tacks
ignavia
samisen
bandages
wax
gavelkind
tumeric
imbat
cedilla
cassation
hendiadys
quincunx
vanilla
corposant
madrepore
ophicleide
paste
jequirity
tombola
sphagnum
distaste
aceldema
lunistice
yarborough
cranium
febrifuge
ampersand
hubris
geranium
opoanax
thunder
dismemberment
baize
hellebore
obelus
cartilage
maze
anitgropelos
piacle
occamy
whistle
maremma
accismus
badigeon
epistle
quodlibet
catafalque
hiccup
remorse
idioticon
gibus
botargo
divorce
phylactery
gegenschein
clavicle
sago
bellonion
thurible
aphthong
plumbago
amaranth
rhoncus
pantechnicon
hymn
diaeresis
purlicue
sparadrap
whim
cicatrix
salsify
palindrome
bosphorus
narthex
betrayal
chalcedony
phosphorus
ligament
exequies
spandrel
chandoo
gehenna
etui
anamorphosis
glue
wapentake
orrery
aspic
mistrust
ichor
ganosis
velleity
dust
4) Some words are capitalized, for reasons I can't figure (although a few are proper nouns)—probably because they're more pleasing that way.(There's no hidden code in the capitalization and/or letters in the landscape, near as I can find, because I did look.)
Title: The Pious Infant
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1966)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: the closest I can find is 17? info about the original publication of this is hard to come by.
Total Page Count: 341,790
Text Number: 1216
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: This is played so straight that it borderline doesn't work for me. It's legible as a dryly obnoxious, sentimental morality tale, but I don't have strong feelings about it. Perhaps if I were more invested in the type children's literature it satirizes? Perhaps if the ending were more ridiculous?
Title: The Evil Garden
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1966)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 341,770
Text Number: 1215
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: The art here is sparser than Gorey's usual, with thin illustrations on white progressing to inky black panels. The structure and tone is familiar, a vaguely-period banality meeting the bizarre and morbid. It's not-unpleasantly samey—samey, that is, within in the context of Gorey, who is a reliable delight. And sometimes what makes a particular Gorey work is just that it appeals to one's personal aesthetic, and I sure am a sucker for an overgrown and weirdly malicious garden.
Title: The Inanimate Tragedy
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1966)
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 341,850
Text Number: 1218
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Some Gorey is so experimental and deconstructed that it becomes inaccessible. The inanimate cast and nonsensical plot here is the fatal combination—compare The Willowdale Handcar, which is even more nonsensical but feels more like a nested, portentous narrative solely by virtue of a human cast; compare The Untitled Book, which sheds language almost entirely but remains comprehensible by keeping itself local and contained. I find The Inanimate Tragedy interesting as another of these experiments, and I appreciate that the bind-ups mean I've read enough Gorey to make these comparisons. But the plot is a hollow, derivative tragedy which is unmoored by an inanimate cast and repetitious art.
Title: The Gilded Bat
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1966)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 65
Total Page Count: 341,915
Text Number: 1219
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I like this, but with no particular enthusiasm. It's still Gorey, still tragic and satirical, therefore still satisfying. But the ballet aesthetic is what makes it unique, and so it's eclipsed by The Lavender Leotard, which uses it to greater and wrier effect.
Title: The Iron Tonic: Or, A Winter Afternoon in Lonely Valley
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1969)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 35
Total Page Count: 341,950
Text Number: 1220
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: The exaggerated horizontal panels lean into the atmosphere of stretching, inexorable loneliness; Gorey's uniquely pointless titles (titles which, in such a short piece, carry a lot of weight) create an appropriate sense of anticlimax. It's an effective, atmospheric little package: lonely, wintery, absurd, quaint—very Gorey, but the particular setting and stylistic experiments, like the inset circular vignettes, make it stand out within his work.
Title: The Chinese Obelisks
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1970)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 70 (35+35)
Total Page Count: 342,830
Text Number: 1223-1224
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: The Amphigory Too bind-up includes both the draft and final version of this piece, and that peek into Gorey's creative process eclipses the work itself for me. I'm particularly interested to find that the detail I like best, the reoccurring bit of background debris, is absent from the draft—which makes sense, but it's interesting how much it enriches the finished work, inviting the reader to linger on the art. The work itself is one of Gorey's better alphabet poems and has great flow.
Title: The Deranged Cousins
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1971)
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 342,860
Text Number: 1225
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I'm trash for a The Secret History-esque "insular group of ne'er-do-wells destroyed from within by their own bombastic flaws" premise and Gorey's take on it a delight: the off-kilter, detailed inkwork sells the decrepit atmosphere; the indulgent melancholy is balanced by Gorey's ever-ready wry humor; it's theatric and critical, romantic and tragic, and profoundly silly. Insofar as Gorey's consistent, distinctive style means that specific works stand out just because their gimmicks appeal to the individual reader, this one could have been written just for me & I appreciate the gift.
Title: The Eleventh Episode
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1971)
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 342,860
Text Number: 1225
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review:I prefer it when Gorey's series of unfortunate events have a tight focus, as this does—it grounds, or at least contains, the nonsense elements and nails the tragic:comic balance. This has a lovely gothic atmosphere, pleasantly melancholic and sometimes dreamlike, and one of my favorite endings: "'Life is distracting and uncertain,' she said and went to draw the curtain"—pointless and profound.
Title: The Untitled Book
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1971)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 35
Total Page Count: 342,875
Text Number: 1226
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Another of Gorey's experiments in deconstruction, and subsequently I like it more for what it does than for the thing itself. The narrative is primarily nonsense words, and succeeds due to the consistency of the storyboard-esque art panels. There's a fun contrast between the staid repetition of the framing and the non-plussed, white-faced reader stand-in, and the silly, fluid nonsense of the action.
Title: The Lavender Leotard; or, Going a Lot to the New York City Ballet
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1970)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 342,905
Text Number: 1227
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Blithe, snide, snobbish social commentary/aesthetic nonsense about ballet aficionado culture. I'm not invested in this particular gimmick, but this commits itself so entirely that it's nonetheless enjoyable. It's the sort of satire that has its origins in love.
Title: The Disrespectful Summons
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1971)
Rating: 4.5 of 5
Page Count: 15
Total Page Count: 342,920
Text Number: 1228
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Gorey does Lolly Willowes: a sudden dance with the devil means a woman has no choice but to curdle milk and read from Ninety-two Entirely Evil Things to Do before she's swept away to hell. The period-appropriate caricature of feminine respectability applied to witch clichés falls squarely within Gorey's stylistic wheelhouse and has an understated feminist vibe—without the autonomy of, again, Lolly Willowes, but Gorey's take on "well, I suppose I have to be evil now" is deceptively bland and enviously fun. Delightful; I want to read Ninety-two Entirely Evil Things to Do; this isn't perfect, but it's one of my favorite Goreys.
Title: The Abandoned Sock
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1972)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 342,950
Text Number: 1229
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: The novel sock-PoV makes the melancholy elements delightfully ridiculous (for being about a sock) but surprisingly effective (for stirring feelings about ... a sock) in a way which is very Gorey. So this is enjoyable—but it doesn't ever exceed that gimmick and doesn't stand out within Gorey's body of work.
Title: The Lost Lions
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1973)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 342,980
Text Number: 1230
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I continue to appreciate Gorey's use of deceptive titles, which in such short works carry a lot of weight—and so this title (mis)direct the work's focus such that the actual theme is a surprisingly effective & affecting reversal, i.e. the lions aren't really the ones who are lost. This is more melancholy than tragic, but it still feels pretty routine for Gorey—in a pleasant way! but it doesn't stand out from his body of work.
Title: Story for Sara: What Happened to a Little Girl
Author: Edward Gorey, Alphone Allais
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1971)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 30 [I'm guessing, can't find details on original publication & have since returned by reprint and can't count panels]
Total Page Count: 343,010
Text Number: 1231
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Apparently a translation and illustration of a poem by Alphonse Allais, who I've never read. But it's a natural fit for Gorey, who does great work both with apparently-imperiled-but-actually-evil children and with series of unfortunate event narratives, and this combines both to fun effect. Delightfully vicious, with a sweet zinger.
Title: Salt Herring
Author: Edward Gorey, Charles Cros, Alphonse Allais
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1971)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 50
Total Page Count: 343,060
Text Number: 1232
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Credited to Charlos Cros and Alphonse Allais, this piece has a storied history. Regardless, it's a natural fit to Gorey. Some of his work is so simple as to feel slight; this takes that and points it, a nonsense work for the sake of nonsense, with appropriately off-kilter panels that rotate orientation halfway through. Delightful!
Title: Leaves from a Mislaid Album
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1972)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: ~20, guessing again
Total Page Count: 343,080
Text Number: 1233
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Like The West Wing, this is a wordless work given context only by the title. The West Wing is better—its mysterious interiors invite investigation, so their haunting atmosphere really lingers. These are portraits, and perforce more explicable; the atmosphere is instead tropey and ominous, with shadow-faced figures and eyelines leading out of frame. But the overall effect is successful, especially in collection with other Gorey—his works are short, so every word matters; and in their absence, every detail of the inkwork is precious. (Also, the Doubtful Guest is there!)
Title: A Limerick
Author: Edward Gorey
Published: Perigree, 1975 (1972)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 5
Total Page Count: 343,085
Text Number: 1234
Read Because: reading the author, paperback bind-up borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I don't like Gorey's limericks in collection—they grow too mean—but as a standalone work, elaborated into a micro-comic, one is much more tolerable. And this one rhymes trajectory/rectory, which is flawless.