The Gashlycrumb Tinies

For my 30th birthday, my boyfriend gave me a few presents that I really loved but one of them I thought was so funny and unique. He gave me a book called The Gashlycrumb Tinies which is a wickedly dark ABC book by Edward Gorey. Edward Gorey, born in Chicago in 1925, wrote more than 100 books in his very long and exhaustive career. His first work, The Unstrung Harp, was published in 1953. Gorey’s books were very hard to define. He is often considered an illustrator, but with the inclusion of words and text many considered him to be more of a cartoonist. Like the common occurrence these days of actors who sing (e.g. Nicole Kidman) and singers who act (e.g. Madonna – ok ok TRIES to act!), Gorey was the literary equivalent. He was either considered a writer who was an artist or an artist who wrote.  Many folks who I have shown the book to have already seen it but this summer was my first introduction to this book. His works were creative and experimental. Because the formats of his books ranged greatly, publishers had a difficult time putting his work in to a certain category. Gorey would create books that had no words, books that were literally matchbox-sized, pop-up books and books that just did not fit in to any mold. His books also posed the question whether they were best classified as literature for children or literature for adults. Although many of Gorey's works were popular with kids, Gorey has said that is work was never meant or intended for children. Gorey who remained single through out his life was rumored to be gay and was pressed for a response on the matter many times before his death in 2000 but never said one way or another. This is obviously the days before an artist would be outed on Perezhilton.com. Gorey said of his sexuality: "I'm neither one thing nor the other particularly. I am fortunate in that I am apparently reasonably undersexed or something... I've never said that I was gay and I've never said that I wasn't...What I'm trying to say is that I am a person before I am anything else..." There are many online versions of the The Gashlycrumb Tinies that I hope you'll check out. The Gashlycrumb Tinies is all about how 26 little children find their deaths - again, it's an ABC book. I know it sounds awful but it's pretty hysterical. If you are interested in how you would die, TAKE THE QUIZ. I love this book so much and I'm interested in collecting more of his books. He is a fantastic artist with a unique approach. I love it.