Edward Gorey

Perhaps his birth name, Edward St. John Gorey, should have tipped him off as to how his career would be sent. For Gorey, born 1925 in Chicago, would go on to become the grandmaster in the field of the comic macabre, nearly defining the genre with his illustrations and writings.

Gorey wrote more than 100 books and illustrated 60 for other authors (including Samuel Beckett and John Bellairs). He also had a career as a playwright and scenic designer in theater. His version of Dracula delighted Broadway in 1977.

Gorey's father was a journalist for Hearst Newspapers and he began reading at a young age. By 5 he'd read both Dracula and Alice in Wonderland. By 8, he started reading Victor Hugo. All of these were to both inspire and haunt him throughout his career.

Gorey took classes at the Art Institute of Chicago until he was drafted into the Army during World War II. In 1946, he entered Harvard where he roomed with poet Frank O'Hara.

Gorey died in 2000.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Unstrung Harp	The Lost Lions
The Listing Attic	A Limerick
The Doubtful Guest	Category
The Object Lesson	The Glorious Nosebleed
The Bug Book	Amphigorey, Too
The Fatal Lozenge	The Broken Spoke
The Gorey Alphabet	The Loathsome Couple
The Hapless Child	Alms for Oblivion
The Curious Sofa	Postcards
The Willowdale Handcar	The Green Beads
The Beastly Baby	Dracula: A Toy Theatre
The Gashlycrumb Tinies	Gorey Posters
The Insect God	Neglected Murderesses
The West Wing	F.M.R.A.
The Wuggly Ump	The Dwindling Party
The Sinking Spell	The Water Flowers
The Remembered Visit	The Prune People
The Evil Garden	The Eclectic Abecedarium
The Inanimate Tragedy	Amphigorey, Also
The Pious Infant	E.D. Ward: A Mercurial Bear
The Gilded Bat	The Tunnel Calamity
The Utter Zoo	The Prune People II
Fletcher and Zenobia	The Improvable Landscape
The Other Statue	The Raging Tide
The Blue Aspic	Q.R.V.
The Iron Tonic	The Dripping Faucet
The Epiplectic Bicycle	The Helpless Doorknob
Why We Have Day and Night	Whatever Next?
The Chinese Obelisks	The Tuning Fork
Donald Has a Difficulty	The Stupid Joke
The Osbick Bird	The Fraught Settee
The Sopping Thursday	The Grand Passion
The Deranged Cousins	The Doleful Domesticity
The Eleventh Episode	The Betrayed Confidence
Story for Sara	The Pointless Book
Fletcher and Zenobia Save the Circus	The Floating Elephant
Leaves from a Mislaid Album	The Retrieved Locket
The Awdrey-Gore Legacy	The Unknown Vegetable
Amphigorey	The Fantod Pack
The Lavender Leotard	The Just Dessert
The Black Doll	The Deadly Blotter
The Abandoned Sock	The Haunted Tea-Cozy
The Disrespectful Summons	The Headless Bust

--B. Redman