Flute-nosed opera singers in fur coats. Sinister men with handlebar mustaches playing croquet. Author-Illustrator Edward Gorey drew thousands of darkly witty, sweetly macabre characters in more than 100 books in his 75 years (most were published under his own name, but some -- such as The Curious Sofa -- bear pseudonyms that are anagrams of his name, like Ogdred Weary and Mrs. Regera Dowdy).
But with the possible exception of The Gashlycrumb Tinies, that alphabet of nefarious kiddie disasters, Gorey's most universally recognized work remains The Doubtful Guest, which turns 50 this year (and is in development as a live-action feature from the Jim Henson Company).
The curious tale of a creature who shows up at a manse uninvited on a cold winter night (is it a penguin? An aardvark? Some sort of hybrid nether-beast, or just an "it," as the story suggests?) and won't go away is the subject of an ephemera-packed exhibit at Gorey's rambling, fascinating home-turned-museum in Yarmouth on Cape Cod, Mass. through 12/23.
written on Friday Oct 26, 2007
it arrived on a cold winter night.
