Gorey Secrets: Artistic and Literary Inspirations behind Divers Books by Edward Gorey

Product Description

Edward Gorey (1925–2000) was a fascinating and prolific author and artist. Of the one hundred delightful and fascinating books that Gorey wrote and illustrated, he rarely revealed their specific inspirations or their meanings. Where did his intriguing ideas come from? In Gorey Secrets: Artistic and Literary Inspirations behind Divers Books by Edward Gorey, Malcolm Whyte utilizes years of thorough research to tell an engrossing, revealing story about Gorey’s unique works. Exploring a sampling of Gorey’s eclectic writings, from The Beastly Baby and The Iron Tonic to The Curious Sofa and Dracula, Whyte uncovers influences of Herman Melville, Agatha Christie, Edward Lear, the I Ching, William Hogarth, Rene Magritte, Hokusai, French cinema, early toy books, eighteenth-century religious tracts for children, and much more.With an enlightening preface by Gorey collaborator and scholar Peter F. Neumeyer, Gorey Secrets brings important, uncharted insight into the genius of Edward Gorey and is a welcome addition to collections of both the seasoned Gorey reader and those who are just discovering his captivating books.

Review

Like the fictional detective Hercule Poirot, Malcolm Whyte has sifted through all the evidence and gathered us in the library to reveal the hidden meanings and inspirations behind the works of Edward Gorey.
Gorey Secrets is meticulously researched and cunningly presented. Newcomers and seasoned Goreyphiles alike will be delightfully enlightened by each revelation. — Irwin Terry, author of Goreyana (goreyana.blogspot.com), an ongoing exploration of all things Gorey since 2008

Here is a delightful kind of skeleton key to the faux-macabre world of Edward Gorey. The ferociously well-read Gorey is a most elusive quarry for annotators. Hats off to Malcolm Whyte for having tracked down and traced such a broad sampling of this beguiling omnivore’s affinities and inspirations. — Leonard S. Marcus, children’s book historian and author of Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children’s Literature and Helen Oxenbury: A Life in Illustration

Malcolm Whyte has done us all a service by exploring and explaining the incredibly complex tangle of Edward Gorey’s sources, influences and inspirations. Everything is in the mix, from Melville and Lear to Agatha Christie and the Brothers Grimm, from Hogarth and Redon to Matisse and children’s illustrations, as well as the
I Ching. Richly illustrated and beautifully designed, this lively monograph is a deeply rewarding celebration of Gorey’s creative genius. — Frank Robinson, director emeritus at Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University

Malcolm Whyte’s book
Gorey Secrets is a very welcome addition into the understanding of Gorey’s published works. A must-read for Gorey fans. — Rick Jones, Gorey friend and retired director/curator of the Edward Gorey House

About the Author

Malcolm Whyte is a graduate of Cornell University and has created more than two hundred books for readers of all ages. He published
Gorey Games and
Goreyography and curated nine exhibitions of Edward Gorey’s books, drawings, and graphics, for two of which he wrote and produced catalogs. Whyte is a collector of illustrated books and contemporary American art including original cartoon art, American Indian art, and old master prints.

Peter F. Neumeyer collaborated on three books with Edward Gorey and is editor of
Floating Worlds: The Letters of Edward Gorey and Peter F. Neumeyer. He has taught at Harvard University, Stony Brook University, and San Diego State University.