September 2, 2013

Anthologies

Welcome to September, web-o-sphere! Today's we are discussing picturebook anthologies.

One of the most notable anthologies is Shaun Tan's Tales From Outer Suburbia. It's a lovely compilation of tales written and illustrated by Tan that have an outlying theme of enigmatic suburbia--what goes on behind closed doors, how outsiders might view suburban culture--and an underlying feeling of nostalgia and sadness. Tan also has an anthology called The Lost Thing (with "The Red Tree," "The Lost Thing," and "The Rabbits"), and he recently came out with an illustrated anthology of his drawings called The Bird King. Both are equally beautiful and imaginative as Tales, and do an amazing job of capturing and portraying an outsider's view on foreign culture. Here are a couple spreads from each:





"The Water Buffalo"
"Eric"


"The Lost Thing"

"The Red Tree"



If you love Gris Grimly as I do, you'll love his Edgar Allan Poe anthology Tales of Mystery and Madness. Although it, sadly, only has four stories ("The Black Cat," "The Masque of the Red Death," "Hop-Frog," and "The Fall of the House of Usher"). The illustrations are comical and expressive and really have a sense of Poe to them. Have a look:



Last but not least for this week is Amphigorey by (of course) Edward Gorey. The book is a collection of 15 of his picturebooks and stories rolled into one. There are several sequels (Amphigorey TooAmphigorey AlsoAmphigorey Again), so depending on what stories you like you definitely have your pick. Here are a few spreads from the first book.


"The Gashlycrumb Tinies"


"The Curious Sofa"

Anthologically yours,
Mel


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