{"id":5047,"date":"2020-02-23T00:01:40","date_gmt":"2020-02-23T06:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5047"},"modified":"2020-02-22T22:42:24","modified_gmt":"2020-02-23T04:42:24","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-679-featuring-chloe-bristol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5047","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #679: Featuring Chloe Bristol"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\nIf you are a fan of Edward Gorey’s books, you may be interested in Lori Mortensen’s<\/a><\/strong> new picture book biography, Nonsense! The Curious Story of Edward Gorey<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Versify), illustrated by Chloe Bristol<\/a><\/strong> and coming to shelves in March. Evidently, Gorey would have turned 95 this year. <\/p>\n

Mortensen writes in a chummy tone \u2014 “Greetings, Dear Reader!” the book opens \u2014 with hints of (and tributes to) Gorey’s writing style throughout. She kicks things off in 1925 with Gorey as a child, a “dandy boy who looked out his window, drew sausage-shaped pictures of city-bound trains, and taught himself to read.” She marks his introduction to the books that would eventually change his life \u2014 such “quaint and curious” and “dark and disturbing” books as Dracula<\/em> and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland<\/em>. <\/p>\n

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Mortensen briefly covers Gorey’s army stint; time at Harvard (as a “tall and spooky” chap), during which he was unsure what to do with his life; his work in the art department of a book publisher; and, finally, what happened after he put pen to paper and wrote and illustrated his own<\/em> stories (often writing under pen names that were “Edward Gorey” as anagrams, as pictured below), ones that “mingled sweetness and innocence, danger and darkness, all mixed up with his own brand of silliness.”<\/p>\n

The rest of the book includes the kinds of responses he received from readers, both young and old: “No one had ever seen books like Edward’s before.” Mortensen captures his legacy, as well as Gorey’s refusal to tell readers what his stories meant. (After all, as Gabrielle Bellot wrote at The Atlantic<\/em><\/strong><\/a> in 2018, Gorey “disdained explanation in favor of the playfully irrational.”) Appended to this biography is an author’s note, as well as sources. <\/p>\n

This is Chloe Bristol’s debut picture book, and she gets<\/em> Gorey. Her offbeat, atmospheric illustrations capture the delightful absurdity of both his life and work. It is an appealing biography \u2014 for both die-hard Gorey fans, as well as young readers coming to him for the first time. Let’s allow some art to do the talking. …
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“But Edward liked writing and illustrating stories that made readers uneasy. …”<\/em>
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NONSENSE! THE CURIOUS STORY OF EDWARD GOREY. Text copyright \u00a9 2020 by Lori Mortensen. Illustrations copyright \u00a9 2020 by Chloe Bristol and reproduced by permission of the publisher, Versify\/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston. <\/em><\/p>\n

Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome.<\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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1)<\/strong><\/font> Gorey. Always. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> Finally seeing the Eric Carle exhibit<\/a><\/strong> at the Frist Museum in Nashville. <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> A delicious meal and good conversation with friends. <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> This song is currently on repeat for me:
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