This is a sort of mini-autobiography of artist/writer Edward
Gorey (1925-2000), presented through the medium of interviews that took place
over the years from 1973 to 1999. Edward Gorey has- and has had, for many
years- a cult following for his slightly skewed, morbid but funny books.
Working almost exclusively in pen and ink, his drawings most often present a
late Victorian or Edwardian setting, frequently drawn with lush detail-
particularly the backgrounds- where something is just off. Gardens
contain plants that eat people; strange looking guests appear uninvited, people
die off constantly. But Gorey was not just interesting for his work; he was a
bona fide eccentric, dressing in sneakers, ankle length fur coats, and lots of
chunky jewelry. And, of course, his cats. He loved his cats above all things,
allowing them to do their will unimpeded, and left his estate to animal
charities.
Telling a person’s life through interviews results in being
able to see what Gorey thought about from various times in his life. A lot of
things didn’t change; his voracious appetite for reading, his lack of need for
human contact, his artistic style. Some things did; he moved away from New
York City permanently because the one thing that held
him there, the ballet, evolved into something he no longer cared for.
Because interviewers tend to ask the same questions as each
other, there is a lot of repetition in the book. Throughout the years, he tends
to answer them the same way every time. It would have been hard to edit all the
repetitions out, and it’s easy enough to skim past those sections. But even
with the repetitions, each interview reveals something just a little different
about Gorey. The book has illustrations from his various works scattered
throughout. It’s a fun, interesting book that’s fast to read.
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