Rec. #80: Ascending Peculiarity

What: You might know Edward Gorey from his "Gashlycrumb Tinies" ("N is for Nigel, who died of ennui"), or from the opening titles of PBS's Mystery! series, or from the somewhat inappropriately gothic greeting cards you've received from me. Gorey's art and wit are distinctly macabre and stylized, with a touch of elegant violence. His work seems vaguely Victorian and British, but Gorey was born in Chicago and started creating his own books in the middle of the twentieth century. In this collection of interviews with Gorey, you'll learn about his varied (and sometimes unexpected) interests, including: cats, French symbolist poetry, yard sales, George Balanchine, soap operas, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Also, there are pictures.

Representative quote: "What is your motto?" "O the of it all."

You might not like it if: You're not familiar with Gorey's work and you don't really want to become familiar with Gorey's work, so reading interviews with him seems kind of pointless.

How to get it: You might have trouble finding it new, but you could find it used. Or look at your library (it might be either in the fine arts section or with the biographies).

Connection to previous Wreckage: The Salmon of Doubt (Rec. #4) is another posthumous collection of words from a beloved twentieth-century author who's something of a cult figure (Douglas Adams). (Adams actually is British.)