The Fatal Lozenge

by Edward Gorey

Genres: Poetry, Art, Graphic Novels, Picture Books, Comics, Humor, Fiction

37 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Born in Chicago, Gorey came from a colourful family; his parents, Helen Dunham Garvey and Edward Lee Gorey, divorced in 1936 when he was 11, then remarried in 1952 when he was 27. One of his step-mothers was Corinna Mura, a cabaret singer who had a brief role in the classic film Casablanca. His father was briefly a journalist. Gorey's maternal great-grandmother, Helen St. John Garvey, was a popular 19th century greeting card writer/artist, from whom he claimed to have inherited his talents. He attended a variety of local grade schools and then the Francis W. Parker School. He spent 1944–1946 in the Army at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, and then attended Harvard University from 1946 to 1950, where he studied French and roomed with future poet Frank O'Hara.

Although he would frequently state that his formal art training was "negligible", Gorey studied art for one semester at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 1943, eventually becoming a professional illustrator. From 1953 to 1960, he lived in New York City and worked for the Art Department of Doubleday Anchor, illustrating book covers and in some cases adding illustrations to the text. He has illustrated works as diverse as Dracula by Bram Stoker, The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, and Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. In later years he illustrated many children's books by John Bellairs, as well as books in several series begun by Bellairs and continued by other authors after his death.

Reviews

[Dream.M · Rating 4 out of 5]

من واقعا سبک کارای گوری رو دوس دارم، شعرها و نقاشی های عجیب ترسناک و که اصولا باید غم انگیز باشه ولی آدم بهش میخنده.
شبیه تماشای کارتون خانواده آدامز هستش:)

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a alphabet verse poem of macabre. Edward Gorey was twisted with a very dark sense of humor. There are some truly horrible people in this one. Some of them made me laugh more than others, but there was some good humor here.

Sometimes it feels good to laugh at those things were are usually afraid or horrified by. I love the words Edward choses and his artwork and his twisted sense of humor. I'm a fan. There were some that were too dark for me and I didn't like like Z, but that is how it goes. You can't like everything.

[nazanin · Rating 3 out of 5]

آرت ورک زیباییه مجموعه شعرا با تصویرسازیای قلم فلزی طورش
لحن طنزشو دوست دارم ولی خندم نگرف

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I was going to be going through and rereading everything in publication order as I got to it in the biography, and then compare my opinions to Dery's. But it turned out I had nothing to say. No takes, hot or cold.

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

B+W images with an ABAB verse. Each moves through a letter of the alphabet and each features a new character "An Apparition, The Baby, The Cad, The Drudge... etc"

[Cait · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fatal Lozenge is tied with The Gashlycrumb Tinies for best alphabet book EVER. This 5 star rating is brought to you by the letter S:

[Amy (Other Amy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edward Gorey: A standing invitation to laugh at the things you aren't supposed to laugh at. Review to come. In the meantime, have a Little Willie joke:

Little Willie, full of glee,
Put radium in grandma's tea.
Now he thinks it quite a lark
To see her shining in the dark.

(Reread in Amphigorey; reviewing separately.)

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I’m not usually a fan of English poetry, I really enjoy Edward Gorey's style—the way his poems blend with his illustrations, and the unique, dark charm of both his art and writing.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very similar to the Listing Attic. Anything by Edward Gorey reminds me of Tim Burton. The same dark drawings and grim nature. Almost a little darker than Burtons. I really don't know why I love his books so much but I really do. Almost like 25 mini short stories in one book.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this ABC book, one might think that the Lozenge in question would appear in the poem for "L". However, the aforementioned lozenge appears only on the back cover.

I found this in a "little free library", and yet some would pay $100 or more for it simply because it is a 1st edition. Aren't people odd?

The sight of Uncle gives no pleasure,
But rather causes much alarm:
The children know that at his leisure
He plans to have them come to harm.

[Radwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

another alphabet book, but it's different from the gashlycrumb tinies.
first, it's not just one sentence, instead it sets a depressing scene as usual.
second, we're not dealing with children in misery here, but instead they are adults in misery

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fatal lozenge, otherwise known as the A to Z of death for fucked up children by Edward Gorey. Sorry Billy. A doesn't stand for apple any more. It stands for apparition. That's right billy, "You see dead people!"

D is no longer for dogs. D is for the drudge who mops the floors until she dies.
The death continues until you get to Z. Or until you get so depressed that you just can't read on any more.
If you are plagued by annoying whiney spoiled kids, give them this book before bedtime.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm tired of Gorey's gimmick. I would like something clever please. I have no appreciation for shock value. I do enjoy macabre works but all of his works are the same, it becomes boring and tedious. One or two great stanzas out of 26 just doesn't do it for me.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another bizarre rhyming alphabet of death, destruction and dreadful demises. Nobody does this better than Edward Gorey.

[Dorian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can appreciate shock and horror, but not racism, ableism and mysogyny.

[Quitealice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven.

[Jimmie Lee Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Gorey Alphabet, always a bit eerie.

[Wetdryvac · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of Gorey's creepier... no, wait. One of Gorey's creepy works.

[Juushika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like his limericks, this is sometimes meaner than I want Gorey's humor to be. The off-color elements which are so delightful in The Gashlycrumb Tinies are less successful here because this less resembles a children's book--it's more obviously for adults, and so depictions of misogyny, etc. aren't dissonant, aren't subversive; are uncritically presented. But I love the concept of an alphabet book for adults so much--it has a native inversion of tone and expectation which is perfect for Gorey's style. He doesn't realize the full potential here, but I appreciate the attempt.

[Emmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt like a darker version of The Gashlycrumb Tinies, with each little vignette about a different rogue, ranging from A-Z. Some of the bits were better than others, but the whole story had a rather dark mood that made it a little less enjoyable.

[Cooper Renner · Rating 5 out of 5]

An alphabet book of superb quatrains which could be sung to the common measure!

[Chuck Beilstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

So evil.

[Canavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

✭✭✭

[Kwoomac · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series of limericks is very dark and unsettling. The illustrations, though, are wonderfully elaborate.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, simple, macabre

[Adel Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

Proto- Gashleycrumb Tinies.

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

at least as appealing as the ghastly crumb tinies, as far as alphabets by Gorey go.

[Rick Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading Edward Gorey 2023. The Fatal Lozenge is his first published alphabet, a conceit that proved to be a rich vein. Consistent and dire.

Favorite quote:
"The Magnate waits upon the pavement
For his enormous limousine,
And ponders further child-enslavement
And other projects still more mean."

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since this book is hard to find and the ones I can find are of an exorbitant price, this animated short will have to suffice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGoIC...