The Doubtful Guest by Edward Gorey Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Doubtful Guest
Book Review: My daughter cried.
Summary: 2 Stars
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.Book Review: Now this is a strange book.
Summary: 5 Stars
It isn't humorous, and yet at the same time it is. I'd say it's colorful, but it's actually not that colorful. It mostly just made me go "hmmmm" in a very deep rooted way.Book Review: Odd greatness
Summary: 5 Stars
Gorey is brilliant as usual with this absurd tale of a creature who inexplicably shows up on a family's doorstep and moves in, only to spend most of his time licking the walls. Classic stuff.Book Review: One of my favorite Gorey tales....
Summary: 5 Stars
A delightful classic with quirkiness that warms my heart.Book Review: The Doubtful Guest
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a charming story of a questionable character who appears out of nowhere and endears "it"self by simply being itself: odd, personable, quirky, and tenacious. The pen and ink drawings by Edward Gorey are impeccable (his formal training at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago lasted only one year), showing a natural gift for precision and imagination; they are used exclusively as signatures of the PBS series "Mystery." The Victorian/Edwardian theme creates another world, placing the reader in the late 19th, early 20th century of elegance and propriety, making the mysterious appearance of this peculiar "Doubtful Guest" even more peculiar. The fact that Mr. Gorey created these drawings and the story they tell in 1957 is testimony to its timeless, endearing, enduring quality.
by Elizabeth Wallace, author and illustrator of Jesus Christ In His Own WordsJesus Christ In His Own Words