Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12474 in Books
• Published on: 2004-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Synopsis
The first book of 15, "The Unstrung Harp," describes the writing process of novelist Mr. Clavius Frederick Earbrass: "He must be mad to go on enduring the unexquisite agony of writing when it all turns out drivel." In "The Listing Attic," you'll find a set of quirky limericks such as "A certain young man, it was noted, / Went about in the heat thickly coated; / He said, 'You may scoff, / But I shan't take it off; / Underneath I am horribly bloated.' " Many of Gorey's tales involve untimely deaths and dreadful mishaps, but much like tragic Irish ballads with their perky rhythms and melodies, they come off as strangely lighthearted. "The Gashlycrumb Tinies," for example, begins like this: "A is for AMY who fell down the stairs, B is for BASIL assaulted by bears," and so on. An eccentric, funny book for either the uninitiated or diehard Gorey fans.

Customer Reviews

Gorey Classics in this stunning anthology
This is possibly the most re-readable book I own. It was the first "Amphigorey" (they've irritatingly spelt it incorrectly, without the "E", on this Amazon page) I bought, and by far my favourite. It is a collection of 15 books, that contain either verse or lyrical prose, accompanied by excellent monochrome pen-and-ink drawings (with the exception of 2 full-colour children's works), that are full of intricate cross-hatching and meticulous detail. Gorey has a great conservatism to his writing, as usually only a single sentence accompanies each image. They are all equally funny and haunting in their own individual ways, and seem to run the spectrum of "negative" emotions from the creepily ethereal to the sickeningly macabre.

It includes probably the most enjoyable Gorey books available - my three favourites, "The Doubtful Guest", which is very funny, and the verse very well-written (sample couplet: "At times it would tear out whole chapters from books/Or put roomfuls of pictures askew on their hooks"), "The Willowdale Handcar", about three companions that go on an impromptu journey that lasts months, the content of which is loaded with sometimes indecipherable symbolism, and "The Remembered Visit", which I find, for some odd reason, the most haunting and emotive of his books despite having a very distant feel.

But that is not all - included in this anthology is the classic "The Gashlycrumb Tinies", an A to Z of the gruesome deaths of 26 children, which many may recognise (you can find it published in full on the internet for free if you want a taster of Gorey's work).

Gorey's work, being extremely short in actual reading length, rewards those readers that take time to closely examine and scrutinise the detailed illustrations. One of the books, "The West Wing", contains no words at all, but is just a sucession of haunting visions - the meanings of which are, at the very least, cryptic.

It's far better value to buy this book than the fifteen books included in it separately (being about £5.99 each in hardback), and probably more handy to read a few of his best books in one go. If you like your stories to be surreal, haunting, foreboding, gruesome, whimsical and overall, funny, then get this book, especially if you are a fan of thoughtful illustration as well. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Amphigory
Alarmingly eccentric compilation of several short cautionary tales and limericks that can leave one feeling a little bewildered but exraordinarily fascinated by the dark thought processes that go on within the author's mind. The illustrations accentuate the dark prose both in their oddness and wonderful use of lines.
Effortlessly sinister-a gem by a genius.

Astonish friends and family, disturb the sane and trouble those who sleep too well
Wonderful, bleak, empty & melancholy. These stories are like the half remembered phantasms of a fever nearly recovered from............