Donald Has a Difficulty

Rating:
Summary: A classic restored to us
Review: Haven't seen this book since I was a boy myself, but its republication is one of the great events in the publishing world of 1970. Gorey is, of course, well known for his quirky antiquarian drawings and his bizarre sense of black humor, but his work with Peter Neumeyer isn't as familiar as the stories he wrote on his own. Collaboration didn't make Gorey's particular genius any less strange; indeed it sharpened the wit and the eerie conceptualization of these drawings.

Little "Donald" is rather a creepy boy himself, but he's downright appealing next to his mother, who spends the entire book picking a splinter out of poor Donald's leg with a needle and tweezers, and then seeing to the aftermath of his wound with alcohol and a very large pillow. She will remind you of the part Katharine Hepburn played in LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT.

Hooray for Donald, Gorey, Abrams and Neumeyer!