A new, small-format edition of one of Edward Gorey’s “dark masterpieces of surreal morality” (Vanity Fair): a witty, disquieting journey through the alphabet.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
"A is for Amy who fell down the stairs. B is for Basil assaulted by bears. C is for Clara who wasted away. D is for Desmond thrown out of a sleigh..." The rhyming couplets of this grim abecedarian are familiar, of course, to devotees of macabre humor, but the darkly crosshatched drawings are (as Poe put it) "the soul of the plot." Several years went by during which The Gashlycrumb Tinies: Or, After the Outing was not available in a small hardcover edition like this one, which is the true format for Edward Gorey's specialty, the adult picture book. (For those who wish to share the gloom there's a 10-copy assortment with The Curious Sofa.)
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.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
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
83 of 87 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The concept behind "The Gashlycrumb Tinies; or, After the Outing," by Edward Gorey, is brilliant in its simplicity. It consists of a series of rhymes about small children who suffer various deaths. Each child has a name beginning with a different letter of the alphabet, and their grim fates are arranged alphabetically by name. Each fate is also accompanied by one of Gorey's macabre drawings. Sample lines: "E is for Ernest who choked on a peach. F is for Fanny sucked dry by a leech. G is for George smothered under a rug. H is for Hector done in by a thug."
I found this book hilarious. Gorey's children have a proper Victorian look to them which makes their scenarios that much more bizarre. Most of the drawings show the unfortunate children just before their deaths; only a few of the pictures actually show explicit death or violence.
One could read "Gashlycrumb Tinies" as an outrageous parody of children's books (of alphabet primers in particular), or just enjoy it for what it is. Either way, I think it's a wicked delight.
43 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the first Gorey I have ever read. I just read it today. Here are my impressions:
As my title indicates, I found it highly amusing. I found myself laughing out loud a few times while reading this very short book.
The illustrations are fantastic as you can gather from most of these reviews. Most of the illustrations are funny but I might note the exception to that in the gruesome image of Kate's corpse after being struck with an ax. I think that's the only illustration taking place after the event. That proved to be an exception though. The book is very amusing and hilarious at times.
It's an anti-children's book for adults. It can be a funny remedy to the insipid and happy-go-lucky kinds of children's books. That doesn't mean this is just for parents or those particularly sick with those children's books. I think anyone with a decent sense of humor, and especially a dark one, would enjoy this.
It's short. I don't know why the information says it's 64 pages because there are only 26 letters in the alphabet. Anyway, my point is that it's just a little humorous diversion.
This hardcover edition is really great. It's high quality and just plain nice...
50 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Edward Gorey's dark subversion of children's alphabet books is a tiny book guaranteed to bring a sinister smile to the face of every one with a twisted sense of humor. Opening with "A is for Amy who fell down the stairs" and running all the way to "Z is for Zilla who drank too much gin," the simple but inspired rhymes combine with Gorey's pseudo-Victorian Gothic crosshatch illustrations to wickedly funny effect.
Although his disaster-specific illustrations (such as "R is Rhoda consumed by a fire") are macabrely witty, Gorey is really at his best when he leaves the most to your imagination. Consequently, it is really his illustrations of impending doom ("P is for Prue trampled flat in a brawl") or the shocking aftermath of an unknown circumstance ("K is for Kate who was struck with an ax") that are most likely to inspire a mischievous grin.
Although you might not want to give this to your anxiety-prone niece or your traumatized stepson as a Christmas stocking stuffer unless you wish to make them worry about your intent, older children will likely find it every bit as comical as adults--but adults are the real audience here, much more likely to catch the drop-dead humor involved. Wickedly amusing and sinisterly charming in every way.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By Ot
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
When I was a boy, my mother read to me the short poem of Solomon Grundy. It went - Solomon Grundy, Born on a Monday, Christened on a Tuesday, Married On a Wednesday, Took ill on a Thursday, Worse on a Friday, Died on Saturday, Buried on a Sunday. This is the end of Solomon Grundy.
I don't remember how young I was, but I was startled by the short life of this Solomon Grundy character. It also made me wonder about death. Not in a depressive, fearful way, but in a curious way. Even though I wasn't intellectually tuned to metaphor , my unconscious understood that though we don't die in a week, we do die - whatever dieing meant to me in those days. It was a lesson. A lesson wrapped in a tale for the young at heart.
Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies teaches us the same lesson, but it also contains the one ingredient we need to extinguish the fear of death ( for a time ). Humor. We see the calamity of it's characters and we laugh. But we laugh because we are kin to the absurdity. The greatest ill a parent can do to a child is to deceive that child from the truth. The Gashlycrumb Tinies allows us to tell the truth, one step at a time. Laughter and death, something we all have in common.
Solomon Grundy or The Gashlycrumb Tinies - thanks Mom.
Otto
I don't remember how young I was, but I was startled by the short life of this Solomon Grundy character. It also made me wonder about death. Not in a depressive, fearful way, but in a curious way. Even though I wasn't intellectually tuned to metaphor , my unconscious understood that though we don't die in a week, we do die - whatever dieing meant to me in those days. It was a lesson. A lesson wrapped in a tale for the young at heart.
Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies teaches us the same lesson, but it also contains the one ingredient we need to extinguish the fear of death ( for a time ). Humor. We see the calamity of it's characters and we laugh. But we laugh because we are kin to the absurdity. The greatest ill a parent can do to a child is to deceive that child from the truth. The Gashlycrumb Tinies allows us to tell the truth, one step at a time. Laughter and death, something we all have in common.
Solomon Grundy or The Gashlycrumb Tinies - thanks Mom.
Otto
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I purchased this book after realizing that Edward Gorey was the wonderfully sinister artist behind the scary illustrations in most of the books by John Bellairs. What a pleasant (yet disturbing) surprise it was to see the alphabet written in such a memorably deranged way. The shock value alone of this book is great (just imagine an elementary school teacher handing this one out!!!) If you can appreciate anything sick and twisted and if you like any form of dark illustrations get everything ever drawn by Mr. Edward Gorey!!!!!!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
exspensive for what you get
The drawings and art is great, its just a very small book, with regular paper and black ink, I just think its overpriced, its also very short, a few pages long
Wouldn't buy it... Read more
Wouldn't buy it... Read more
Published 10 days ago by emiliano
5.0 out of 5 stars
N is for Neville who died of ennui
This was one of my favorite books when I was a child. That probably explains a lot about me today.
Published 12 days ago by R. Beach
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Love Bizarre Whimsy
If this little book had been bigger, only then would it have been more perfect. The perverse ways, from A to Z, that children meet their untimely demise (I imagine) is not for... Read more
Published 24 days ago by Delia Dye
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome Book
I love Edward Gorey. I already own a few of his books and wanted to add to my collection. It's cheap and it's one of my favorites by him. Read more
Published 28 days ago by onlytruemushroom
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lovely
I ordered this after realizing it had my name in it (judge me), but it is a great conversation piece and the illustrations are lovely.
Published 29 days ago by Clara
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love it.
I love this book. It is for anyone with a twisted sense of humor. Strangely, the first time I saw it, the book was displayed in the children's section of a book store. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Elina Daniels
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gotta be a fan
I was not paying attention to the size of the book for I was very surprised the book was so small. I love it so much.
Published 1 month ago by aMapola
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dark Humor
Warning: Not for those who do not enjoy dark humor. Edward Gorey is known for his dark humor books based on popular styles of children's books. I think it's cute. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Kate
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dark yet cute
This is a very original and beautifully crafted alphabet book. It is a bit dark, but extremely poetic and playful. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Justine J.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gory and funny
I love this book. I'm 20 and my brother (18) and grandparents who in their 80's read the book and laughed. It brings out the dark humor in everyone.
Published 1 month ago by Emmy1127
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
