Instant Lives And More [Paperback]

Howard Moss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 1999

A classic artistic parody from two of the world's most satiric minds. Moss uncovers remarkable historical anecdotes, which are accompanied by Gorey's absurdly deadpan drawings. Although the insightful scenarios involving Emily Dickinson, Mozart, Henrik Ibsen, and El Greco are all the product of Moss's fertile imagination, his uncanny emulation of style makes us believe they (just possibly) might be true. 25 illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Instant Lives is a wonderfully weird collaboration between Howard Moss and Edward Gorey. This brilliant collection of vignettes of the lives of the literati, punctuated by Gorey's droll illustrations, depends on wordplay, absurd non sequitur, outrageous puns, and dead-on parody of its subjects' styles to create a slim book that will have you weeping with laughter. Consider, for example, the opening lines of "Oscar Wilde": "'Bon mots, among intimates, are the cablegrams of the desert,' Oscar said, his finger still firmly on the pulse of the epigram." Or the epiphany in "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky": "He felt a sudden inspiration. Not a pig ballet but a bird ballet! He rushed over to his writing desk and changed 'Swine' to 'Swan.' Swan Lake. Of course! The whole thing was falling into place."

Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, Paul Gauguin, John Donne, and James Joyce are just a few of Moss's targets in this hilarious little book. Moss approaches Johann Sebastian Bach from his wife's perspective ("'Thunderation!' Magda exclaimed. She'd just climbed the one hundred and seventeen steps to the belfry. 'Do you have to sit here and compose all day just to prove you're a Christian believer?'") and credits El Greco's future career as an artist to his eye doctor ("'Why not make a virtue out of a defect, El?' the kindly eye doctor asked.... The boy's eyes were not only hopelessly astigmatic, but a peculiarity, unique to the doctor's experience and probably genetic in origin, had elongated the lenses of the irises so that El Greco saw every object in the world attenuated to the point of emaciation"). Instant Lives will be an instant hit among readers with a strong appreciation for the ridiculous and the whimsical. --Alix Wilber

About the Author

Howard Moss (1922-1987) was the poetry editor of The New Yorker for nearly four decades. He was also a poet, playwright, and critic. In 1972, he won the National Book Award for his Selected Poems.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (July 10, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880015861
• ISBN-13: 978-0880015868
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,426,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lit-Wit at its BEST, July 18, 2000

By 

L. Bernstein "Knitting is Gluten Free" (Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Instant Lives And More (Paperback)

Instant Lives features 36 remarkable parodies of famous artists (writers, musicians, artists) -- everyone from Austen to Huxley to Gauguin to Mozart. Every chapter overflows with dry wit mixed with a deep understanding of the artists portrayed. Highly recommend.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not that great :( but not horrible, April 9, 2007

By 

Mookie Fan (PA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Instant Lives And More (Paperback)

Cute, I guess. Not that much Gorey and not what I was looking for. Not wretched, but not very useful unless perhaps you're looking for a chuckle.