"SURREALISTIC AND MACABRE, AMUSING AND SOMBER, NOSTALGIC AND CLAUSTROPHOBIC, POETIC AND POISONED"

GOREY, Edward. The Tunnel Calamity. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1984. Accordion book, measuring 6-1/2 by 7 inches. $550.

First edition of this accordion book by Edward Gorey, with 10 leaves illustrated by him in accordion style forming one scene.

Edmund Wilson described Gorey's work as "surrealistic and macabre, amusing and somber, nostalgic and claustrophobic, poetic and poisoned." Gorey is known for his "distinctive, instantly recognizable style: intricately detailed pen-and-ink drawings capture characters, fur-coated, turtle-necked, or dressed in 1920s or Edwardian garb, frozen in moments of stoicism. Somewhat Gothic and ostensibly grim, these images are usually accompanied by macabre stories of death, dread, and gore or by humorous verses detailing situations of horror" (Silvey, 278). The Tunnel Calamity shows the "unexpected appearance of the ULULUS (thought to have been extinct for over a century) in the tunnel connecting East Shoetree and West Radish, St. Frumble's Day, 1892." Toledano A89a.

A fine copy.