Reading diary.

- Amphigorey. Edward Gorey. A compilation of Gorey’s first fifteen books (1953 - 1965), all masterfully skirting the line between “comic book” and “illustrated book”, and all macabre in very different ways. The title of this collection, the author reminds us, refers to “amphigory”, meaning “nonsense verse or composition”. 

A classic both of the illustrated and the dark (in every sense of the word), with tales ranging from stories seemingly intended for children (“The bug book”, where the idyllic life of a brightly-colored bug family is menaced by a black intruder —and is saved by the bugs murdering their neighbor and making it look like a suicide! Or “The Wuggly Ump”, which would be a preschooler monster tale if not for the fact that this monster gleefully does devour the protagonist children) to Victorian and Gothic-tinged nightmares (“The Willowdale Handcar”, “The Insect God”, “The Listing Attic”, “The Hapless Child”). And there are oddities, too, such as the naughty adults-only tale “The curious sofa”. Or the first and last of this collection: “The unstrung harp”, which is a quiet, somber meditation on the process of creation and the thin line between reality and imagination; and “The remembered visit”, a melancholy tale of old age and broken promises. 

Each book included is a tiny marvel. Consider for instance the wordless, mysterious “The West Wing”, a tour through 30 rooms of a perhaps haunted house that culminates on the letter “U” and a picture of a lighted candle floating in darkness. Or “The Gashlycrumb Tinies”, an alphabet illustrated by 26 children who meet their end in various ways, ranging from the horrific (“K is for Kate, who was struck with an axe”) to the mundane (“E is for Ernest, who choked on a peach”) to the surreal (“N is for Neville, who died of ennui”). Or the meticulous examination of what goes into creating, writing and publishing a novel —only to then deal with irate fans and detractors —and then leading into a journey into the unknown (all in “The unstrung harp; or, Mr. Earbrass writes a novel”). 

In short: an essential title, particularly for fans of the unique and the weird.