The Black Doll: A Silent Screenplay
by Edward Gorey
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Book Summary Information
Author: Edward GoreyContributor: Annie Nocenti
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-05
ISBN: 0764948016
Number of pages: 71
Publisher: Pomegranate Communications
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780764948015
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of The Black Doll: A Silent Screenplay
Book Review: Spoiler Free description of this Wonderful Book: The Black Doll
Summary: 5 Stars
I received this book from a LibraryThing Early Reviewers giveaway, and I have to say, as a Gorey fan, that it thrilled me greatly to get it.
Pomegranate Communications Inc's new release of "The Black Doll: A Silent Screenplay" by Edward Gorey (with an interview by Anne Nocenti) is a very beautiful hardcover book (ISBN 978-0-7649-4801-5). As you may know Edward Gorey passed away in 2000, and Pomegranate is hard at work releasing a lot of Gorey books in definitive editions.
I am going to make this totally spoiler free... so don't look for details here.
First, for Gorey art fans: During the 20+ page interview there are some select reprints of Gorey's more famous pictures. BUT, every 2 page spread of the screenplay (pages 34 - 71) has a picture of, what I believe is, original artwork of all of the costumed characters from the screenplay. Some are very operatic, some bizarre, and some very unique.
The interview, from 1998, is a must for all Gorey fans. It is a great peek into his head. During it there is a comment that a lot of Gorey's works are like reading a silent film. Which brings us to the screenplay...
It reads exactly like a silent film that plays in your head. I thought at first, therefore, it would have no dialogue, but it has title cards for the sparse dialogue that is there. Most of the screenplay is stage direction and action description.
Of course, if you are a HUGE Gorey fan, you have been looking for an affordable version of The Black Doll for YEARS. This is that! $17.95 (current SRP) is a lot better than $175.95, AND this is a NICE book.
Summary of The Black Doll: A Silent Screenplay
The Black Doll, a little-known and never-produced screenplay by the very well-known and often-published artist and writer Edward Gorey (1925-2000), dishes up a rambunctious romp of a plot, featuring vile villains, wicked women, sinister socialites, and a horrified heroine. It's the stuff of many a silent melodrama, but imbued with classic Gorey convolutions. Written before 1973 and originally published with illustrations in Scenario magazine in 1998, The Black Doll has been missing from most Gorey libraries until now.A huge film buff all his life, Gorey claimed to have watched as many as one thousand movies a year when he lived in New York City during the 1950s and 1960s. He was a devoted student of silent films, citing Louis Feuillade (French, 1873-1925) and D. W. Griffith (American, 1875-1948), pioneers of the genre, as major inspirations. His informed insights on silent films were revealed in an interview with Annie Nocenti, published in the same issue of Scenario; it, too, is republished in these pages.
Gorey illustrated The Black Doll with about twenty costumed characters, who seem to appear haphazardly within the script's text. (Don't worry: they all fall into place at the end of the story.) If the enigmatic script leaves you a bit dazed, keep in mind these words from Mr. Gorey: "I always feel, `what you see is what you get,' but if you want to read something into it, then you can."
Including several relevant illustrations from his other books and an illuminating foreword by Andreas L. Brown (owner of the Gotham Book Mart and Trustee of the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust), The Black Doll is truly a Gorey gem.
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