Today’s Google doodle

February 22, 2013 • 4:17 am

. . . celebrates the life and work of writer and cartoonist Edward Gorey. Gorey actually died in 2000, but would have been 88 today had he lived. Wikipedia has a nice biography.

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Although I grew up largely ignorant of his books for kids—most of which appeared when I was already half grown—I noted the huge outpouring of grief when he died, and concluded that he was much beloved by denizens of the internet. Those obviously include the folks at Google.

As the Guardian notes,

As well as his own picture story books, the Chicago-born artist illustrated works by authors including Samuel Beckett, TS Eliot, Edward Lear and Muriel Spark, as well as drawing new pictures for Aesop’s fables and the Brer Rabbit stories.

Gorey was an eccentric. In the 25 years between 1957 and 1982 he did not miss a performance by the New York City Ballet, attending in an outfit consisting of an enormous fur coat and white tennis shoes.

I’d be curious to know what influence he had on the readers here, or if they followed his books.

One thing I do know, though—the man liked cats:

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Edward Gorey & kittiescats gorey

23 thoughts on “Today’s Google doodle”

  3. This doodle is my first introduction to Edward Gorey. A Google search directed me to Scott Lefebvre’s YouTube video of Gorey’s “The Insect God.”

    A child’s version of Kafka’s _Metamorphosis_?

  5. He was the Edgar Allen Poe of children’s literature. It was dark, subversive, humorous, and rather thought-provoking. He and Shel Silverstein were both great and being able to introduce dark irony to children just learning to read.

    1. I’d never heard of him until now, but the Poe comparison makes me really want to check out his work.

      Am I just ignorant, or is he relatively unheard of here in Europe?

  6. Ah, de joyz of der transatlantik kultural diwide:
    Over here in German-speaking Europe, Google zelebrates den 225th Geburtstag of Arthur Schopenhauer, der misanthropik pessimist himzelf. And, Oh, mein Gott, an unrepentant poodle-lover to boot!

    Softpedia is trying to bridge den gap, but I bet zey vill not sukzeed.

    Who said the Internet was bringing people together?

    1. Yes Occam – I too was at first puzzled by JC’s post because today’s doodle was Schopenhauer. I went back and checked, and it’s still Shopenhauer! (in DE 🙂

  9. I believe I was happily introduced to him at a young age via the Gashlycrumb Tinies. I was delighted when Masterpiece Theatre’s Mystery chose to use Gorey illustrations for their opening credits.

    1. That was the spin-off program, Mystery. The (original) Mystery credits were one of Gorey’s masterworks, and they were my first exposure to his style when I was a kid.

      As a teenager, I was a huge fan of Gorey’s work. My favorite thing he did was a book of the alphabet, with each letter being represented by the name of a child and the key details of said child’s untimely death: “B is for Bertram, eaten by bears.”

      1. I didn’t remember the Mystery history, just the credits. The Gashlycrumb Tinies is the name of the alphabet book – delightfully demented.

  11. Definitely a fan. Aside from really liking the look of the Mystery credits when growing up, and one of the Gorey-illustrated editions of TS Elliot’s “Book of Practical Cats” in high school, I was introduced to the work in college. Gorey’s stuff was relatively popular among the local science fiction club.

    I suspect it’s the highly unconventional nature of the work that appeals more to the nonconformists and non/anti-authoritarians, who (in the US where religiosity remains the median-norm) are more likely to end up as atheists.

    1. For me it’s the other way around, I’m an atheist and anti-stupid which doesn’t conform to the christian “authority” in the United States.

  12. Gorey’s work is not for children! Never has been, never will be, unless someone somewhere is raising their kids in a very odd manner. All of Gorey’s work conceals a deep, subtle questioning about the human condition. He poses questions that are so deep it’s hard to tell just what the questions are, but you can’t read any Gorey without coming away a changed person. Their grotesque, superficial, black humor is mere camouflage.

    I’m fortunate to have been introduced to Gorey (“The Bug Book”) at an early age, and have over the years acquired a number of his books in their original form, plus the magnificent anthologies. Regrettably, my copy of “The Bug Book” is in very poor shape, having been chewed up by my sister’s dog decades ago, but nonetheless, the tiny format adds a certain charm that is missing in the reprint anthologies.

    The world would be a better place if all of Gorey’s small books were reprinted as a boxed set in their original formats.

  14. I’ve loved Gorey’s work since I discovered it when I was about 11 (in the late 70’s). I remember giggling over all the unspoken raunchiness of “The Curious Sofa”, I memorized “The Gashleycrumb Tinies”, and in one high school English class I drew one panel a day from “The Bug Book” on the chalkboard.

    In each of his works, look for a small white card lying somewhere in one of the frames. I’ve found it in most of his stories. Only in “The Object Lesson” does someone actually pick it up and read it. There’s also an armless black doll who often appears in many stories without explanation.

  15. A fellow graduate student (Tim Anderson) gave me Gorey’s “Donald and the . . .” in about 1990. Young Donald finds a fly larvae and raises it to an adult (enduring “painful ribs” in the meantime.) I love that book, and have a large collection of other Gorey creations.

    Can anyone remember the book that takes the form if a dichotomous key?

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