Hi - I just want to say how much I appreciated this review and will be reading more here. (I still haven’t finished the review itself!!).
I am an nt (or should I say normie?) boomer with an Autstic (type 1? - new to me) husband and son and any idiot in today’s world could figure out that Gorey was autistic. I’m only 15% done with the book and I literally could no longer stomach the author’s obsession with Gorey’s sexuality and the pretzeling of Gorey’s self (as defined by Gore) into some narrow, willingly ignorant idea of what humanity is. Gorey is so interesting that I will continue to read the book (and the review) but I needed to see some online outrage over this first.
It’s truly bad.
Thank you for all!!!!!!
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Slap Happy Larry
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2020 1:48 am
Re: Edward Gorey Biography Review
I know right, sooo bad.
(I'll let you in on a lil secret: I never finished the book. I was in danger of chucking it across the room and breaking the TV or something.)
(I'll let you in on a lil secret: I never finished the book. I was in danger of chucking it across the room and breaking the TV or something.)
Re: Edward Gorey Biography Review
I’m a bit off-topic here, but since I’m still discussing your review of Gorey’s biography I guess it’s ok. 
I’ve continued to read the book - fyi no changes - but I did see somewhere an interview with Dery where I get the feeling he had experienced some backlash and was conceding “something”. Although it was so minor that I can’t even remember what it was. Of course he felt no compulsion to correct his book.
Anyway, I’ve read most of your review now and would love to become a bit more literate around gender identity and sexuality etc etc. My autistic husband and I have been married for 30 years and my autistic son is 23, so I’ve had plenty of time to think about asexuality and a fluid way “of being” - i.e. I don’t find any of this hard to get or accept - but I still would love a “primer” on the topic. Any advice on a good source? Maybe you should write it if not? You appear to be an excellent writer.
I still have yet to read the rest of your site, but will as I saw something about short stories which looks interesting and I’m just curious in general.
Finally, thanks again for speaking up about that biography. Nothing fires me up like people redefining others when the “other” has already defined themselves.
My first experience with this was almost 40 years ago around self-proclaimed Christians saying that Catholics and Mormons weren’t Christian. It might sound like a dopey comparison but it had the same feeling of scary and dangerous disrespect for others being tossed off as “just conversation”.
Dery’s disrespect of Gorey demonstrates a high level of arrogance that is most likely rooted in narcissism and of course, privilege. As innocent as the biography appears, Dery is actually choosing to hang out on the slippery slope where creating “otherness” lies…and everything that goes with it.
I’ve continued to read the book - fyi no changes - but I did see somewhere an interview with Dery where I get the feeling he had experienced some backlash and was conceding “something”. Although it was so minor that I can’t even remember what it was. Of course he felt no compulsion to correct his book.
Anyway, I’ve read most of your review now and would love to become a bit more literate around gender identity and sexuality etc etc. My autistic husband and I have been married for 30 years and my autistic son is 23, so I’ve had plenty of time to think about asexuality and a fluid way “of being” - i.e. I don’t find any of this hard to get or accept - but I still would love a “primer” on the topic. Any advice on a good source? Maybe you should write it if not? You appear to be an excellent writer.
I still have yet to read the rest of your site, but will as I saw something about short stories which looks interesting and I’m just curious in general.
Finally, thanks again for speaking up about that biography. Nothing fires me up like people redefining others when the “other” has already defined themselves.
My first experience with this was almost 40 years ago around self-proclaimed Christians saying that Catholics and Mormons weren’t Christian. It might sound like a dopey comparison but it had the same feeling of scary and dangerous disrespect for others being tossed off as “just conversation”.
Dery’s disrespect of Gorey demonstrates a high level of arrogance that is most likely rooted in narcissism and of course, privilege. As innocent as the biography appears, Dery is actually choosing to hang out on the slippery slope where creating “otherness” lies…and everything that goes with it.
Re: Edward Gorey Biography Review
Oh and LOL on chucking the book. It is a super weird combo of good writing (style-wise) and interesting info topped off with an unfortunate major load of crap.
And I think you also saw that The Edward Gorey House is selling it? I I might have to write a letter….but right now I only feel confident about speaking to the autism piece…
And I think you also saw that The Edward Gorey House is selling it? I I might have to write a letter….but right now I only feel confident about speaking to the autism piece…
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Slap Happy Larry
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2020 1:48 am
Re: Edward Gorey Biography Review
Oh no, I didn't see that Edward Gorey house is selling Dery's book... Yes, please do write to them. I should probably do something about that too, it just gets exhausting. I believe Michel Foucault wrote about enforced ignorance when it comes to matters of sexuality (and neurodiversity too, I'd add). And I have to conclude that people like Dery (and the people at Gorey House) are *choosing* not to look beyond a surface level. Yes, it really riles me up, too, the people who get platformed, the voices we listen to. (You could probably tell from the length of my response!) I literally wrote that as catharsis, regardless if anyone actually read it or not. It's a damn shame Dery writes so well. Articulate people with beautiful sentences get away with a lot.
I have also heard the Christian exclusion i.e. Catholics are not Christian, from Pentecostals. Unfortunately it seems to be a feature of human brains, as the contemporary queer community do it, too. (Asexual people are not queer; bi people are really just gay; trans people who haven't medically transitioned are not 'real' trans people...) You'd think these groups would cohere, wouldn't you.
Thank you for the compliment re. writing -- fortunately I've been saved the job of writing a non-fiction book on asexuality as it was recently done extremely well by Angela Chen. The book is called Ace (with a long subtitle I can't remember). Before that there was a great 2015 book which is really a total primer on the subject by long-time ace activist Julie Sondra Decker. It's called The Invisible Orientation. I'd go with the ace book. Or if you'd like to read both, read The Invisible Orientation first. (It's good as an audiobook in fact.)
Oh that's right, I put a larger collection of aroace resources in this blog post:
https://www.slaphappylarry.com/asexuali ... t-fiction/
Though YAL is always leading the charge with representation, I'm still waiting for a work of literary fiction/book club/contemporary fiction *for adults* to star an on-the-page asexual character but I believe there are many hiding in plain sight e.g. Kazuo Ishiguro's butler in Remains of the Day. Of course, these characters get decoded as gay/repressed, or anything other than exactly what they appear to be on the page.
I have also heard the Christian exclusion i.e. Catholics are not Christian, from Pentecostals. Unfortunately it seems to be a feature of human brains, as the contemporary queer community do it, too. (Asexual people are not queer; bi people are really just gay; trans people who haven't medically transitioned are not 'real' trans people...) You'd think these groups would cohere, wouldn't you.
Thank you for the compliment re. writing -- fortunately I've been saved the job of writing a non-fiction book on asexuality as it was recently done extremely well by Angela Chen. The book is called Ace (with a long subtitle I can't remember). Before that there was a great 2015 book which is really a total primer on the subject by long-time ace activist Julie Sondra Decker. It's called The Invisible Orientation. I'd go with the ace book. Or if you'd like to read both, read The Invisible Orientation first. (It's good as an audiobook in fact.)
Oh that's right, I put a larger collection of aroace resources in this blog post:
https://www.slaphappylarry.com/asexuali ... t-fiction/
Though YAL is always leading the charge with representation, I'm still waiting for a work of literary fiction/book club/contemporary fiction *for adults* to star an on-the-page asexual character but I believe there are many hiding in plain sight e.g. Kazuo Ishiguro's butler in Remains of the Day. Of course, these characters get decoded as gay/repressed, or anything other than exactly what they appear to be on the page.