Death by Ennui

In her essay entitled "Edward Gorey: Mildly Unsettling," Karen Wilkin begins by writing, "If you say (the name) 'Edward Gorey' you are most likely to get one of two reactions: a blank "Who?" or an excited outpouring of enthusiasm." I fall squarely into the second category.

K introduced me to Edward Gorey during our early years back in Chicago, and his peculiar, erudite style certainly felt apropos of our unconventional courtship: equal parts art and cartoon, whimsy and pathos blended with a fine attention to detail. My inaugural foray was with his Gashlycrumb Tinies. (Check it out before that link goes away, as I'm certain it will.) I was fascinated by the detail in the little book, by the clever play on words, by the macabre nature of the whole thing, by how nonchalant Gorey dealt with the deaths of 26 consecutive children. Since then, we've engaged on a full-on love affair with the man and his work, buying everything we get our hands on, and sometimes twice over when we individually and simultaneously stumble on something that we don't already have.

When I saw this book available on Library Thing's Early Reviewers list, I quickly threw my hand up and requested a copy, and was subsequently thrilled beyond belief that of the 1318 members doing the same, I got one of the 15 copies available.

Elegant Enigmas is essentially a catalog from an exhibition that the Brandywine River Museum has organized, on display through May 15 of this year (2009). As such, I wish Pennsylvania was closer. I'd love to see it.

Wilkin's essay, the text of the catalog, is a good introduction to Gorey. There are certainly other, more well-rounded books out there that go into greater depth (a few notable offerings by Wilkin herself, e.g., The World of Edward Gorey), but she provided what was needed for a coffee table entry into the man's work. The work itself is the real treat, and Pomegranate Press spared no expense in faithfully depicting a well chosen set of prints. From classic examples ("N is for Neville who died of ennui") to one of my favorites, The West Wing, you get a good sense of the scope and breath of Gorey's work, what influenced him, and how his craft evolved. One of my favorite additions were his sketches showing drafts for a few pages with which I was already intimately familiar, showing me that he did not, as I previously assumed, simply sit down with pen to paper and see what evolved. (Not all the time, anyway.)

So, to bring this full circle, if you're scratching your head with a blank expression on your face wondering who in the world Edward Gorey is, well I'm not sure this is a book you'd be interested in. Check out one of the Amphigorey's for a good first impression. However, if you're like us and you collect everything you can get your hands on, this will be an excellent addition to your library.