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| The Doubtful Guest | 
 enlarge | Author: Edward Gorey
Publisher: Harcourt
Category: Book
List Price: $10.00
Buy New: $5.34
You Save: $4.66 (47%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $0.76
Avg. Customer Rating:  (17 reviews)
Sales Rank: 123199
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 32
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 4.7 x 0.3
ISBN: 0151003130
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780151003136
ASIN: 0151003130
Publication Date: June 15, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
?An artist and writer of genius? (New Yorker) gives us a small-format edition of one of his favorite tales-a deliciously twisted comedy of manners.
Amazon.com Review
Originally published in 1957, The Doubtful Guest serves as a prime example of the beauty, eccentricity, and brilliance of Edward Gorey's work. If the book was read aloud without revealing the accompanying black-and-white drawings, you might guess the tale came from the quirky genius of Dr. Seuss. The rhyming couplets and nonsensical verse (about an even more nonsensical creature) feel familiar, but in Gorey's skilled hands, the experience becomes altogether new. The doubtful guest shows up unannounced and unwelcome, yet its presence is accepted after only a brief interlude of screaming. The staid, pale, Victorian inhabitants of the mansion alternately stare and glare at the doubtful guest as it tears out whole chapters from books, peels the soles of its white canvas shoes, and broods while lying on the floor ("inconveniently close to the drawing-room door"). Strangely, or rather, typically, as this is a Gorey book, the stymied occupants never ask the guest to leave--and in 17 years it has still "shown no intention of going away." Maintaining a matter-of-fact tone in spite of true oddity is pure, delicious Gorey, and his trademark drawings are not to be missed. The ghostly, stark, and undeniably amusing illustrations make The Doubtful Guest an entrancing tale in which reserved, insular lives meet with the unexpected and bizarre. (Ages 5 and older)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 My daughter cried. August 3, 2007
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
I picked up a copy of the Doubtful Guest because I heard Steven Speilberg optioned the rights to turn this into a movie. Not sure how he's going to do it, because there really isn't a story to tell. It's about a weird-looking penguin that shows up at a house and doesn't leave. Big whoop. I love the art. I like the whole idea of the story. And I'm sure at the time, it was what children's book critics would consider 'avant-garde' and a bit dark. But, it just didn't do it for me. I read it to my daughter. She was so angry that she grabbed the book out of my hands, took it over to the fireplace and threw into the fire. Then she went PFFFTHTTPT! Whatever that means! Maybe she was tipsy on the expired-date cow's milk she was drinking. Maybe it was because she was teething. Maybe it was because she's only a year old, but she didn't like it at all. Would I tell someone else to buy this book? Not really. Although, on a personal note, I may check out more of Gorey's work. This guy may have been on to something.
 Gorey Beautiful February 7, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A macabre classic. Perfect for any collection. Adds a little whimsy to any day you open the cover.
A Gorey story for kids and adults March 17, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Edward Gorey's humor is delightfully absurd. Although this particular tale is unlike any other Gorey story, the humor and pen & ink illustrations are beautifully done and unmistakably Gorey.
"It Betrayed A Great Liking For Peering Up Flues..." January 13, 2005
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
This is my single favorite Edward Gorey book, partially because of the amusing couplets it is written in, but mostly because of the appearance of the guest himself, which never ceases to amuse me. The concept of a strange creature who mysteriously visits and decides to stay (seventeen years) while exercising odd whims (like fits in which he removes all towels from the bath or hiding inside a soup tureen) is particularly suited to Gorey's odd brand of humor (although it is not one of his more unusual books, by any stretch of the imagination.)
I have liked Edward Gorey since I was in my teens, and still find him as unique and entertaining as ever. This is my very favorite Gorey book, and would make an excellent introduction to one of the oddest cartoonists of the twentieth century.
Grab your galoshes December 5, 2003
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
You will not be doubting this book as a guest on your shelf. The Doubtful Guest is a Gorey masterpiece in all its pawky nature. If you find that you are fond of it, you might drop it in the pond, as the doubtful guest does to things it's fond of: "It would carry off objects of which it grew fond, And protect them by dropping them into the pond." You'll surely be all wet if you do, because you'll want to fetch it out for a read quite often.
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