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Art. Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. HTML: The definitive biography of Edward Gorey, the eccentric master of macabre nonsense. From The Gashlycrumb Tinies to The Doubtful Guest, Edward Gorey's wickedly funny and deliciously sinister little books have influenced our culture in innumerable ways, from the works of Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman to Lemony Snicket. Some even call him the Grandfather of Goth. But who was this man, who lived with over twenty thousand books and six cats, who roomed with Frank O'Hara at Harvard, and was knownâ??in the late 1940s, no lessâ??to traipse around in full-length fur coats, clanking bracelets, and an Edwardian beard? An eccentric, a gregarious recluse, an enigmatic auteur of whimsically morbid masterpieces, yesâ??but who was the real Edward Gorey behind the Oscar Wildean pose? He published over a hundred books and illustrated works by Samuel Beckett, T.S. Eliot, Edward Lear, John Updike, Charles Dickens, Hilaire Belloc, Muriel Spark, Bram Stoker, Gilbert & Sullivan, and others. At the same time, he was a deeply complicated and conflicted individual, a man whose art reflected his obsessions with the disquieting and the darkly hilarious. Based on newly uncovered correspondence and interviews with personalities as diverse as John Ashbery, Donald Hall, Lemony Snicket, Neil Gaiman, and Anna Sui, BORN TO BE POSTHUMOUS draws back the curtain on the eccentric genius and mysterious life of Edward Go… (more)
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Well, mission
Dery explains for the uninitiated that the point of most of Gorey's work is that there is no specific point. Gorey's interest is in atmosphere, feeling, the unsaid, and in leaving room for the reader (observer?) of his books to find such meaning as they may. What a relief! Released from the agony of interpretation I find myself more able to connect with the books and enjoy them for what they are, rather than what I'm trying to make them be.
That service provided, as a biography, Deryâs book is (so far as I can tell) detailed, sympathetic and insightful. Gorey is presented as somebody it would have been difficult, and interesting, and pleasant, and stimulating, and frustrating to know.
Placing Gorey within the stream of LGBTQI+ culture, counter-culture and mainstream culture seemed a worthwhile exercise to me, however I think that a little too much time is spent by Dery discussing Goreyâs sexuality. From the quotes Dery gives by Gorey on the subject, he addressed the topic adequately and the âlong stareâ seems somewhat prurient and intrusive when cast upon a person who protected their privacy so carefully.
The foregoing point aside, this is a fantastic work of biography which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I didn't even know who Edward Gorey was when I started this book, is that bad? Well I sure do now!
I love how this book is written. It is full of character
I started out knowing nothing about this man and ended up knowing more than I ever expected to! Brilliantly written about quite an interesting person.
I thank Little, Brown and Company for letting me learn so much from this talented author!
Dery spent a large chunk of the book talking about the 'hidden meaning' in Gorey's work but honestly I don't see it. I think on the fact of it they were fun little illustrated stories that captured (and continue to ensnare) the imagination of anyone who reads them. You can look forward to a masterpost of some of that work coming up in the (hopefully) not too distant future. Overall, this wasn't quite the eyeopening biography that I had hoped it would be and the reach that the author tried to make kind of put me off so that it took me way longer to finish than it should have done. 5/10
This is a full biography, from Goreyâs birth in February of 1925 to his April death in 2000, and while Dery isnât a memorable writer, he does cover the material very thoroughly. It was a treat to learn so much more about someone that I thought a had a pretty full picture of. A picture that so often involved full-length fur coats, dirty tennis shoes, tons of rings covering his fingers, and that distinctive beard.
The book quotes Daniel Handler, better known as Lemony Snicket. âWhen I was first writing A Series of Unfortunate Events,â he says, âI was wandering around everywhere saying, I am a complete rip-off of Edward Gorey,â and everyone said, âWhoâs that?â That was in 1999. âNow, everyone says, âThatâs right you are a complete rip-off of Edward Gorey.ââ
Here, so youâll go away from this review with some knowledge.
His roommate at Harvard was Frank OâHara.
He loved Agatha Christie.
His speech was peppered with midwestern words like zippy, zingy, goody, and jeepers.
He was a bookworm and was always reading in any line he had to be a part of.
His beard hid that he was a chinless wonder, according to Dery.
He considered working in publishing or opening a bookstore.
âI wanted to have my own bookstore until I worked in one.â
He hated Henry James for explaining things to death in his writing.
He loved horror films.
He drove a bright yellow VW Beetle with OGDRED on the plate.
He once said of death, âI hope it comes painlessly and quickly.â
If you want to know more, simply read the book.