Elephant House: Or, The Home of Edward Gorey

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.

Book Description
An intimate photographic journey through Edward Gorey's home.

From the Publisher
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. This kind an openhearted man was also a private man, usually preferring the company of his cats to that of his two-legged acquaintances. But much about Gorey was revealed in his environment. 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. In "Elephant House: Or, The Home of Edward Gorey," Kevin McDermott elegantly documents in rich duotone and full-color photographs this chockablock house, room by room, just as Gorey left it when he died in April 2000. With each picture we obtain new insight into a man whose prolific creative genius was fed as much by his keen intelligence as by his flights of whimsy and absurdity. We are startled by the simple beauty of his arrangement of blue glass bottles in a library window. In noticing that his kitchen counter is almost completely covered by an arrangement of rocks, we wonder how he managed to entertain guests with a home-cooked dinner of all-blue food. And we linger over the picture of his desk, imaginging him at work there; it is such a small desk, blotted with ink (of course!) and crowded with pens, rubber stamps, a ruler - and a black old-style dial phone. Elephant House may be the most intimate portrait of Edward Gorey ever published. McDermott's reminiscences and descriptions of the house accompany his engaging photographs, and more than a dozen of Gorey's etchings and drawings of elephants - never before published - are paired with quotes from the artist. Through this portrait, Edward Gorey becomes even more the man we all wish we had had the chance to meet, an artist whose brilliant and hilarious art and words will continue to charm and delight us for generations to come.

About the Author
Kevin McDermott was born and raised in Lorain, Ohio. He met Edward Gorey in 1985 as an acting student at New York University performing in the premier production of Gorey's Tinned Lettuce. He has worked as an actor, producer (producting two of Gorey's shows off-Broadway), graphic designer, and photographer. He also helps maintain the Edward Gorey archive. He lives in New York City. Elephant House is his first book.


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