Fletcher and Zenobia

Fletcher and Zenobia

by Edward Gorey, Victoria Chess (Illustrator)

In which a self-banished cat named Fletcher and the exquisite Zenobia, herself a victim of disfellowship, find their transport to delight atop a huge and magnificent tree.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Animals, Cats

71 pages, hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

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

[GoldGato · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edward Gorey was the 20th-century master of literary nonsense, as this children’s book shows. Co-written with Victoria Chess, who also did the illustrations, it’s all about the make-believe world that children love, full of impossibilities and meant for young minds (that applies to adults, also).

Fletcher is a rather independent cat who lives in the tallest tree in the neighborhood. He has run up the tree but having never figured out how to get back down, he just stays there. Typical cat. It’s such a big tree that he discovers a trunk full of everything. Hats, boots, even a large toy egg which happens to have a doll inside. Once Fletcher rescues the doll, the two go on to enjoy frivolous fun because the trunk has just about everything needed to have a party.

This is a true child’s book. I remember as a child when I would have make-believe conversations with stuffed animals and invite them to tea. Or I had a toy oven where I would “bake” a cake for all of them. This book is along those same lines, including a giant moth! I enjoyed it, along with the illustrations that squeal 1960s (psychedelic colors, vests). It’s just fun in a weird way. This edition is the original publication and now hard-to-find but the New York Review of Books has a splendid version out there.

Book Season = Autumn (mauve velvet)

[Rod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Demented and delightful children's story that exhibits a more sophisticated vocabulary than most of what passes for "grown-up" literature these days.

Reading it, I was reminded of the Kinks song "Phenomenal Cat" from the Village Green Preservation Society album. https://youtu.be/upWnwfzA_i8
This book was originally published in 1967, and Ray Davies wrote the song in 1968, so I wonder if that's just a coincidence.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Misfits forming an unlikely friendship--one of the best kids' book plots. Very 60s, yet also timeless.

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tale of a cat and doll stuck in a tree. How the cat got up there is easy to understand. But matters take a decidedly queer turn when he plays around with the contents of a trunk inexplicably perched in its boughs as well…

This whimsical tale of an improbable friendship between a frustrated cat and a plain-faced doll is rather touching. Their launching of a party with ice cream and cake (in spite of the lack of a fridge, stove or larder) is handled by the author with just the right amount of pathos for we understand their tacit desire to make the best of a bad situation.

Victoria Chess gives this uncomplicated story just the right amount of charm without making it too saccharine. It contains the innocence of children who’ll make ready friends with any other child who talks to them and the adult longing to escape a stagnant situation.

But the real surprise is Edward Gorey’s illustrations. Having grown up with his morose, black-and-white drawings of moon-faced, small-eyed people accompanying gloomy, morbid texts, it is a startling treat to gaze over pages awash in gaudy hues and smiling faces. They are a fitting accompaniment to the story of instantaneous camaraderie among a cat, doll and moth.

[Ana G · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ordered this not realizing it was a children's book (yup...zero attention span lol), but it was a cute and pleasant surprise, as the art was beautiful and the plot cute and engrossing (as a children's book should be).

The reason this is getting 3 stars instead of 4 is because of the two instances of blatantly harmful body-image messages ( milder one, saying that the girl who abandoned Zenobia 'unsurprisingly' had 'fat wrists', and then the moth saying that since it got too big after eating so much at the party, it must now restrict food until it goes back to its normal size . Those jarred me out of the otherwise fun story, and the lovely art and cute characters couldn't make up for it.

[Chris Browning · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an astonishingly strange and lovely book. You can spot the Gorey lines a mile off but it’s somehow far better for being realised by an artist who, although obviously sharing Gorey’s sensibilities, brings a totally new visual style to the proceedings. I suspect Gorey would have made it far too... disquieting and peculiar to really work

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why Gorey chose not to illustrate this book is a mystery to me, but Victoria Chess's illustrations match the tone of the story to perfection. This is a gem of a silly story with none of Gorey's usual looming dark humor.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whimsical, nostalgic, but just a little bit long.

[Jennifer Link · Rating 5 out of 5]

I vividly remember reading this book as a child. An usual story with fabulous illustrations.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A glorious little children's book with absolutely stunning illustrations by Victoria Chess. So cute and cuddly I want to give it to all the little people (and some of the big people) I know!

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: *Not* illustrated by Gorey, Gorey fans! A whimsical tale of two friends who meet in a tree. Mom or dad will have to explain a few words ("withal," "ceremoniously," "disconsolately," etc.), but part of the charm of the story is its rhetorical register, and if it stretches a child's vocabulary, so much the better. Anyhow, Fletcher, a cat, and Zenobia, a doll, both find themselves inexplicably stuck in a tree without means of escape. When they throw a party to amuse themselves, a mode of escape presents itself.

[Christiane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book was mentioned in the fantastic "Toys Come Home" by Emily Jenkins, so I really wanted to read it. This was another $5 ILL charge, but well worth it. Fletcher is a cat who lives in a tree and Zenobia is a doll who hatches from a huge paper-mâché egg. They have a party, wear hats, dance to a gramophone, and meet a moth who presents the solution to their problem. Quirky and charming, this would make a lovely read aloud to a young child.

[Mat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very old Edward Gorey, perhaps he was less morbid back then. This one is actually appropriate for children. A cat and a doll with a big trunk of supplies try to figure out how to get out of a tree. But they are too busy dancing and making massive feasts to fret too much about it. Fletcher is one very attractive fat cat character.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

I collect books written and illustrated by Gorey. I love his books and this is illustrated by another illustrator Victoria does a perfect job. I recommend Edward Gorey to those who enjoy darker stories and twisted humor.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2013...

[Zoë · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although rare, this imaginative and wry book is worth sitting down with immediately if you can find it.

[Gina]

Finished 8/16/16

[Rolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as quirky and fun as you would expect from a Gorey book about a cat and a doll stuck in a tree.