The Headless Bust: A Melancholy Meditation for the False Millennium [Hardcover]

Edward Gorey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1999

As we wander off with Edward Gorey into the next millennium our reasons for being here are far from clear. Nevertheless, the master craftsmen is at his best . . Ere the last guest was fin'lly gone.Ça va, hélas, from bad to worse: Adieu to prose, alló to verse. The Bahhumbug with lack of tact. Now called attention to the fact, Which made it feel to Edmund Gravel. He was already to unravel

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

With The Headless Bust, Edmund Gravel and the Bahum Bug from Gorey's "Dispirited and Distasteful" Christmas tale, The Haunted Tea-Cosy, have returned to usher in the New Year. The story, told in verse, takes up just after Edmund's riotous party. He and the Bug are whisked off to a faraway village for another round of strange and vaguely eerie encounters. Fans of Gorey's distinctive ink drawings, tending toward the well-dressed and slightly mad, will not be disappointed--they make for an engrossing book with or without the accompanying deliciously odd text. ("Reversing at a tango tea/ In Snogg's Casino-not-on-Sea/ L-- tripped and cried, 'I am afraid/ They tampered with the marmalade.'") There is also plenty to be had for aficionados of the mysterious little rituals, mentioned nonchalantly, that seem so logical to the inhabitants of Gorey's bizarre world--the Bandage Folder's Ball being a head-cocking highlight. The Headless Bust is perfect for a winter's read by the fireplace, just before drifting off into fruitcake-induced dreams. --Ali Davis

From Library Journal

Characters from The Haunted Tea Cosy return for more of Gorey's inimitably spooky doings.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (October 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151005141
• ISBN-13: 978-0151005147
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 7.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #127,767 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Edward Gorey (1925-2000) wrote and illustrated such popular books as The Doubtful Guest, The Gashlycrumb Tinies, and The Headless Bust. He was also a very successful set and costume designer, earning a Tony Award for his Broadway production of Edward Gorey's Dracula. Animated sequences of his work have introduced the PBS series Mystery! since 1980.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful and Funny and better than the first, October 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Headless Bust: A Melancholy Meditation for the False Millennium (Hardcover)

Wow. What a wonderful book. It's the sequel to the Haunted Tea Cosy and, as well as being longer, it's funnier and the art is great. The pictures are like the ones from the HTC, but they have a hint of Japanese in them. They are coloured in grey and light blue (see cover) and lime yellow. This is a great book and any Goriphile would carry it around with them around the house (like I do)!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for the weak of heart, January 17, 2004

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Headless Bust: A Melancholy Meditation for the False Millennium (Hardcover)

The following facts should be made clear immediately. There is not, in spite of the title, a single bust in this book (to say nothing of headlessness). There is not even, I might go so far as to say, much of a plot. But what there is lives in superb Gorey glory. The best way to approach this book is to consider it a sequel to Gorey's "The Haunted Tea-Cosy" (which actually did include a cosy of spectral proportions). Our heroes, Mr. Edmund Gravel and the Bahhumbug have finished saying goodbye to the last of their guests for the evening. Ah, but a creature soon comes to spirit our protagonists, "from place to place, where there is shame, also disgrace". The story uses such delightful and little heard words as "druthers" and "aubergine" while telling the lightly lamentable tales of a host of people. Each situation is privy to a little four line poem in the style of a-b-a-b. The subtitle of this book was "A Melancholy Meditation on the False Millennium" and by the book's end both the Bahhumbug and Mr. Gravel sit, drink their tea, and think about the new Millennium (looks of horror clearly plastered on their faces). This being one of Gorey's later works, we can't criticize it too severely. Mr. Gorey had a style all his own and there is a plot here, buried as it may be. If you're partial to Fellini-esque tales of woe, you will like this book. If not, best that you pick up a copy of something entirely different (like "Betsy-Tacy" or "Goodnight Moon") and leave this book to those who would enjoy it better.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Morbidly Macabre and truly Gorey masterpiece!, October 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Headless Bust: A Melancholy Meditation for the False Millennium (Hardcover)

For those like me who have come late to the world of Edward Gorey and yet embraced it as one worthy to be their own, purchase this book from these nice people...support one of the greatest artists and illustrators of all time.