I loved Amphigorey, mainly because of the mix of genres present within the book. Every story conveyed different emotions, some being less dark than I thought Edward Gorey’s stories would be; however, some stories, The Unstrug Harp for example, seemed oddly somber for a children’s book. The relationship between images and words changed the entire message that the story is conveying, because while Mr. Earbrass tells a rather pessimistic narrative, the images appear as funny and very clearly would appeal to children. While most of the stories are in black and white, which is unusual for children’s literature, the images are still amusing and some of the rhymes in a few stories might also appeal to younger readers.

Additionally, I found interesting that Gorey chose The Unstrug Harp as the first story of his book, mainly because the story narrates the “unspeakable horrors of literary life” and the difficulties that Mr. Earbrass, or any author, faces while writing his novel: isolation, writer’s block, procrastination, dissatisfaction, boredom. Could that be how Gorey feels about being an author, or even writing Amphigorey?