- Hardcover: 128 pages
- Publisher: Pomegranate Communications; illustrated edition edition (Aug 1 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0764924958
- ISBN-13: 978-0764924958
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 29.1 x 1.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 930 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #305,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
This photographic tribute to the mordantly whimsical Edward Gorey captures the domestic life of an artist and writer who, in Updike's words, "never strayed from his curious, carefully crosshatched corner of sinister nostalgia, yet wound up widely on view." McDermott, a graphic designer and performer who appeared in Gorey's musicals Tinned Lettuce and Amphigorey, was allowed to photograph "Elephant House" just a week after Gorey's death in 2000, and his images open a rare window into the private life of an artist whose work was determinedly fantastical. Black and white photographs of a gray shingle house seen through clambering vines and fuzzy images of a dim library overflowing with stacks of books suggest scenes straight out of Gorey's gothic volumes. But MCDermott also includes color photos that reveal Gorey's pleasure in the beauty of little things-the arrangement of blue glass bottles on a sunny window ledge, the setting of cool quartz balls in a stone platter. "Edward loved to 'arrange' things," McDermott explains, and in his hands "pliers became dragons, shears were birds in flight." McDermott's descriptions of his good friend contain many amusing anecdotes (e.g., at one dinner party Gorey dyed each course a shade of blue) and the inclusion of quotations and etchings from Gorey's work help make this book a lovely elegy, one which will surely appeal to Gorey's many fans.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
An intimate photographic tour of Edward Gorey's strange and wonderful house. Fresh biographical insights and warm reminiscences by a longtime Gorey confidant, Kevin McDermott. Includes heretofore unpublished works by Gorey. Introduction by renowned writer John Updike, an ardent Gorey fan.<P>Relatively few people had the opportunity to visit the enigmatic Edward Gorey in his home, and among those who did, even fewer were permitted to see the entire house. Although Gorey was a kind and openhearted man, he was also a private man, usually preferring the company of his cats to that of his two-legged acquaintances.<P>s is true for most of us, our environments reveal much about who we are. That is certainly the case with Edward Gorey. His house in Yarmouthport, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, was filled with his multifarious collections of objects, from books and bottles to finials and rings, stuffed animals and rocks. He arranged his clutter in an order that made sense only to him.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A specialty item for the true Gorey collector,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Elephant House (Hardcover)
Even dedicated fans of Edward Gorey will probably know very little about his personal life: he was an enigmatic recluse and few were permitted past his front door. Photographer Kevin McDermott's Elephant House will delight students of architecture and photography, providing rich duotone works of Gorey's intriguing home and its contents. A specialty item for the true Gorey collector, Elephant House is an impressive photographic showcase and a welcome addition to both architectural studies and photographic studies reference collections.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
At Home With Edward Gorey,
By R. McNally (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Elephant House (Hardcover)
Kevin McDermott's Elephant House is an impressive new photography book. The photographs, taken only days after Edward Gorey's death, afford us an intimate portrait of the man as he lived. The book contains insightful photographs that capture the fine details of the way Edward lived and worked in his own space. Gorey clearly had a fascination with light and texture. He scattered a massive array of objects all about his home with a nearly curatorial eye. McDermott's well composed photos not only capture this aspect of Gorey but illustrate a common thread between these two artists: texture. One photograph depicts groups of small stones as they congregate idly on the rough wood of the porch. The cityscape of salt and pepper shakers and a plate of gourd-like, spherical shapes are beautiful studies in the texture and form of ordinary objects abstracted from their normal contexts, while many others are still lives made of the house's windows and the eclectically arranged objects in front of them. The blue bottles in a few images glow like stained glass as the washed-out light of a cloudy day streams in through them. What makes many of the color images so interesting is the spare, nearly monochromatic palette of colors in the rooms which are offset by only the blue luminosity of bottles or the green leaves of spring showing in the background. These are beautiful photographs independent of their connection to Edward Gorey, but serve also to enhance our understanding of him. The text is an entertaining and candid glimpse of Gorey as a friend knew him, and provides a nicely guided tour through each room. This book is handsomely crafted and thoughtfully designed, and I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in photography or Edward Gorey.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Elephant House or the home of Edward Gorey,
By Irwin J Terry (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Elephant House (Hardcover)
Edward Gorey was a mysterious personage. His works often leave one thinking "what next?". Elephant House by Kevin McDermott helps relieve much of this worry. Mr. McDermott has captured through his photographs and text what it was like to spend time with the elusive Mr. Gorey. This is a personal and moving tribute to a friend that never feels intrusive, but rather illuminates Mr. Gorey and the daily world he invented and inhabited. For those of us who have made Mr. Gorey a part of our own daily lives, Elephant House lets us spend some quality time with the man through his surroundings. A gem and a gift.
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