The author and illustrator is much revered for his own weird and wonderful books, yet his 200-plus jacket designs are virtually ignored. Steven Heller celebrates his contribution to a unique era of publishingDeliciously and subversively cryptic, Edward St John Gorey’s books, plays, postcards, toys, stage sets and costumes – indeed an entire lifetime of utterly sublime, mockingly apprehensive artistry and authorship – are celebrated and critically acclaimed by everyone from cultural pundits to goth cultists. The rare front-page New York Times obituary, on 17 April 2000, is testament to Gorey’s eclectic narrative range. “In creating a large body of small work, he made an indelible imprint on noir fiction and on the psyche of his admirers,” Mel Gussow wrote.Yet, understandably, less attention is devoted today to the 200-plus illustrated paperback covers and hardcover jackets that Chicago-born, Harvard-educated Gorey (known to his friends as Ted) created while working as a staff artist, art director, editor and freelance illustrator at various American publishing houses for a large portion of his career. In two brief sentences, his obituary tossed aside this impressive output: “After graduation he remained in Boston, illustrating book jackets. Then he went to New York and worked in the art department at Doubleday, staying late in the office to create his own books.” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Thu, 25/08/2011 - 07:56 Julian Barnes' The Sense of an Ending (Cape) is comfortably the bestselling longlistee of one of the most popular Man Booker longlists since records began. Barnes' concise novel has sold 9,700 copies at UK booksellers since the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Wed, 24/08/2011 - 08:25 BBC Books is to launch a publishing programme around Bafta-winning TV series "Sherlock", which was inspired by the adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle's Victorian detective Sherlock Holmes. The titles will each feature the show's branding and introductions... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 24/08/2011 - 14:46 Private Eye is marking its 50th anniversary by publishing a book looking back at the history of the satirical institution. Private Eye: The First 50 Years is written by Adam Macqueen, a journalist on the magazine since 1997. It... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 23/08/2011 - 14:43 Collins has bought a memoir of an Irish traveller bare-knuckle boxing champion. Craig Adams, assistant editor for Collins, bought world rights in all languages to Knuckle by James Quinn McDonagh, in an unagented deal. The book... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 15:00 Simon & Schuster US has signed a deal to publish the physical editions of John Locke's Donovan Creed novels in North America. In June, Locke became the first self-published author to sell more than one million ebooks... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 11:39 An autobiography by Only Fools and Horses star John Boycie Challis will be the first book published by new company Wigmore Books, set up by writer Peter Burden. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 15:18 One in six children do not read a single book per month, according to a new survey by the National Literacy Trust. The research suggested the United Kingdom is polarised between those who do not read and the one in 10 children... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 19/08/2011 - 12:03 World Book Day has appointed Kirsten Grant as director, with Cathy Schofield stepping down from her position as co-ordinator which she has held since October 2000. Grant, who was previously Puffin marketing and campaigns... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 18/08/2011 - 11:42 Union Books editorial director Rosalind Porter has bought a book about poet A E Housman by Peter Parker, author of The Last Veteran. Porter bought UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from David Miller at Rogers,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page and Philip Stone Publication Date: Thu, 18/08/2011 - 15:38 The book trades TCM sales showed another big year on year drop last week, but the regional breakdown of the Nielsen BookScan figures suggests the nationwide riots were unlikely to be the major factor,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 16/08/2011 - 09:15 UK ebook buyers are expecting heavier discounting on digital titles than their counterparts across the Atlantic, a new survey has found. The survey, undertaken in April by consultants Simon-Kucher and Partners among 250 book... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 16/08/2011 - 16:03 Spending on printed books slumped £1.1m last week, as the UK riots caused retailers to shut stores early and the public to avoid the high street. Although bookshops remained largely unscathed during the rioting, spending... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 15/08/2011 - 15:49 Waterstones m.d. James Daunt has accused publishers of being lax in not paying enough attention to the physical quality of books while warning bricks and mortar bookshops will not survive unless they are good enough. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 15/08/2011 - 15:45 Sainsburys has signed an exclusive deal with independent publisher Constable & Robinson to sell Joan Collins new book. Publishing director at C&R Andreas Campomar said the company hoped to reach a wider audience for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 15/08/2011 - 10:07 The Society of Authors has advised members to seek its help before dealing with Beautiful Books, after the publisher was unable to pay money owned to an author since March. Beautiful Books m.d. Simon Petherick said it will... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 12/08/2011 - 10:54 Pan Macmillan has acquired two novels by Diane Allen, general manager of Magna Large Print books. Publishing director Wayne Brookes acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to For the Sake of Her Children and one other novel... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 11/08/2011 - 09:08 The British Library has launched its E-book Treasures series for the iPad, with ancient manuscripts now available for download on the Apple iBookstore. The first manuscripts to be available are Leonardo da Vinci's Codex... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A class-action lawsuit accuses Apple of working with publishers to raise the cost of ebooks. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Marcus Brauchli, executive editor of the Washington Post, sent a memo to his staff announcing, among other changes, that the book reviewers will now be report to the editors of the their respective sections. Brauchli told PW that these moves will not affect the paper's coverage of books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 11/08/2011 - 09:00 Poet Laureate Carol-Ann Duffy is selecting the third volume of The Twelves Poems of Christmas, which is out this autumn. Duffy will also write the introduction to the titles, which is priced £4.95 and published in October... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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