New Book Gives the Gorey Details

There is no welcome mat at the entrance to Edward Gorey's world. Strange creatures frolic in topiary gardens, inanimate objects bemoan their fates, society types engage in meaningless expeditions, hapless children meet gruesome ends. Empty rooms and desolate landscapes speak volumes.

Such lunacy is "revealed most fully not at first meeting but over time." These words of appreciative wisdom come from Karen Wilkin, an independent curator and critic whose essay, "Mr. Earbrass Jots Down a Few Visual Notes," forms the centerpiece of a new book on Gorey's art and life.

Despite the ominous and sometimes horrific mood of Gorey's work, the reader who first comes upon a Gorey tome is likely to be startled, confused and hysterically overcome with laughter. The tales are genuinely hilarious, featuring an eclectic mix of Victorian mannerisms, macabre comedy and blunt inexplicability. The pictures, done in crosshatched ink, are typically accompanied by a simple, hand-written, declarative sentence or sometimes just a word.

"The Doubtful Guest," for example, one of Gorey's more charming tales, is about a silent, penguin-like creature who rings the doorbell of a family's home and refuses to leave. The passivity with which the genteel family accepts the intruder--despite his repeated attempts to eat the gramophone--typifies Gorey's stylized and subdued world.

Readers should therefore be forewarned that "The World of Edward Gorey," which also features an interview with Gorey by the artist Clifford Ross, is not an ideal introduction to his work. The best way to become acquainted with Gorey's world is to read the originals. But for initiated Gorey fans, "The World of Edward Gorey" is a treasure trove of information, insights, and appreciative apparatus. The book takes readers beyond the surface joys of his work to reveal a talented and thoughtful artist and author.

The first part of the book is a short interview in which Gorey comments on the art world and his own creative process. It is a revealing, but by no means complete, portrait. Gorey comes across as knowledgeable, eccentric and straightforward, and there is a clear relationship between much of what he says and his work. On common misperceptions of his stories: "People think of me as much more macabre and Gothic than I really am. And the macabre and Gothic don't really interest me very much any more."

The interview offers a bit of biographical background. Gorey is a Harvard graduate, class of 1950. His major in French sparked a lifelong interest in literature, but overall he characterizes his years here as a time when he was "singularly lacking in any ambition or sense of who [he] was."

Gorey also possess some strong critical opinions of fellow artists: "You know, I'd like to think it was Manet who really wrecked painting forever."

But Wilkin's essay makes it clear that Gorey has the right to judge other artists, because he is a master artist himself. Wilkin offers a thorough explanation of the depth of Gorey's artistry, emphasizing "a sense of the artist's ferocious concentration on each stroke of the pen." Her homage is utterly convincing: every Gorey picture draws upon a rich background of visual references, ranging from Japanese prints to surrealist painters. Wilkin correctly argues that "Gorey's dialogue with other art, like his dialogue with literary traditions, is simply evidence of his wide-ranging knowledge and sophisticated grasp of the discipline."

The essay's title refers to Mr. Earbrass, a character in "The Unstrung Harp." The first of Gorey's works to be published, "The Unstrung Harp" follows the literary troubles of an Edward Goreyesque figure. Whenever Gorey represents himself in one of his works, he does so as an author, not an artist. Wilkin, a staunch admirer of Gorey's art, concedes that his mastery of language is no less sophisticated and entertaining.

While some of his stories do have a definite narrative line, others are complete nonsense. The majority of his work, as in the following excerpt from "The Object Lesson," is a combination of the two: "At twilight, however, no message had come from the asylum, so the others retired to the kiosk, only to discover the cakes iced a peculiar shade of green..."

Despite the noble efforts of Ross and Wilkin to explain Gorey's world, Gorey's words are difficult to appreciate fully out of context. "The World of Edward Gorey" should be a source only for fans of the Gorey repertoire. Ross and Wilkin demystify some of Gorey's world, but, in typical Gorey fashion, they leave enough mystery to keep the reader interested and intrigued.