Memento Gorey

Memento Gorey : The Last Interviews with Edward Gorey

Previously unpublished interviews and photographs reveal the person behind the art and document Gorey's everyday life.

Filmmaker Christopher Seufert spent four years with the late writer, illustrator, and artist Edward Gorey before Gorey's death in 2000. Seufert is the producer of the only documentary to be shot with and agreed to by Edward Gorey during his life (EdwardGoreyFilm.com).

This book offers a new window on the often-mysterious Gorey and captures many facets of his personality as he and the author worked together to produce the only Gorey documentary film that Gorey approved. The conversations are personal and revealing, with Gorey (draped with cats) sprawled on a chair in his kitchen, chatting over a beer at a nearby tavern, or seated at his daily lunch café.

This material, chosen for public release with Gorey’s enthusiastic encouragement and cooperation before his death, includes the following:

• 17 previously unpublished interviews: 5 with Gorey himself, including the last expressions of Gorey’s singular mind, and 12 with a wide variety of artists who worked with and were inspired by him, including Neil Gaiman, Danny Elfman, Daniel Handler, and Julie Harris.

• Over 150 unretouched photos, previously unpublished, documenting Gorey’s daily life and his home as he lived in it. These possessions and furnishings include things such as his studio desk’s work in progress, his freezer's contents (including stuffed and preserved Figbashes), and the shelves of VHS tapes featuring his beloved television shows.

Going beyond the many books about his work, these images and conversations capture new insights about Gorey himself: the mind behind the renowned American icon of theater, illustration, writing, and bemusingly cryptic observations.

Size: 11.0in x 8.5in  |  Pages: 224  |  Approx. 150 color images