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Title: The Doubtful Guest
ISBN: 0151003130
Author:
Edward Gorey
Publicate Date: 1998-06-15
Publish: 1998-06-15
List Price: $10.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $5.30
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.92
Amazon Merchant Price: $8.00
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| Customer Review: |
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1: My daughter cried.
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.
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2: Gorey Beautiful
A macabre classic. Perfect for any collection. Adds a little whimsy to any day you open the cover.
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3: A Gorey story for kids and adults
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.
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4: "It Betrayed A Great Liking For Peering Up Flues..."
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.
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5: Grab your galoshes
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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