Index. Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- The gilded bat and the lavender leonard -- The lost lions -- The Gashlycrumb tinies -- The Awdrey-Gore legacy -- The Eclectic Abecedarium -- The beastly baby -- E. D. Ward, a mercurial bear -- The loathsome couple -- The tunnel calamity -- The stupid joke -- The Glorious Nosebleed -- The pious infant -- Jack the Giant-Killer -- Rumpelstiltskin -- The iron tonic -- The curious sofa -- The floating elephant/The cancing rock -- The hapless child -- The Jumblies and the dong with a luminous nose -- The object lesson -- Le melange funeste and The dripping faucet -- Dracula: a toy theatre -- Afterword -- Notes -- Selected bibliography -- Index.
Summary:
"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"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.