“It came seventeen years ago—and to this day / It has shown no intention of going away.” Edward Gorey often expressed himself through parables, simple stories of profound significance. The most moving of these may be The Doubtful Guest, first published in 1957 and later performed onstage—the tale of a maddeningly endearing creature in striped scarf and canvas shoes who inexplicably moves in with a staid Victorian family. The book’s fourteen couplets and illustrations, reproduced here, convey with droll humor the classic tale of the houseguest who overstays his welcome. Author-illustrator of The Deranged Cousins, Neglected Murderesses, The Hapless Child, and more than 100 other works, the wickedly witty Edward Gorey (American, 1925–2000) had an unparalleled ability to convey a foreboding late-Victorian ambience in the eerie crosshatchery of his line drawings. Shadows creep from the corners of his work as ashen children, inscrutable gentlemen in high collars, or unhinged maidens leap the river of mere unlikeliness and hasten to territory that is purely hilarious. The multitalented Gorey also won a Tony Award for his design of costumes for the Broadway revival of Dracula, and dreamed up the animated opening sequence to the PBS television series Mystery! Inclined to modestly say that he had “made a tiny work somewhere,” the artist touched anyone possessed of a genuine sense of wonder. Size: 12 x 13 in.; opens to 12 x 26 in. ISBN 978-0-7649-4772-8. Edward Gorey: The Doubtful Guest 2010 Wall Calendar L404$13.99 All of our pictures enlarge; click on any picture for a closer look. Text & images protected by copyright. Join for Our Monthly E-mail Newsletter Private list, unsubscribe any time. View e-mail archive Home | Customer Service Center | Ordering Information