The Unstrung Harp; or, Mr. Earbrass Writes a Novel

Edward Gorey splendidly captures the cockeyed, hallucinatory journey that any writer of a lengthy piece seems to take while completing their project. In the case of The Unstrung Harp, we get to follow the path of C(lavis) F(rederick) Earbrass as he writes his novel. Plenty of tea breaks, staring out the window, distractions, and mulling tirelessly over sentence wording add delays to the hard work of writing. Earbrass gets close to finishing his novel and after reading what he wrote thinks it best to toss the manuscript in the fire. Fortunately, the fireplace was dead at the time.Gorey's quirky illustrations help contribute to the lugubrious trudge of writing something to completion. Love Earbrass' writing garb, which is a sports sweater with a big letter B on the chest that he wears backwards.

Mr. Earbrass experiences the anxiety, dread, and fear that all writers face, but his story is told in Gorey’s wry style. His black and white, meticulously drawn illustrations add to the woeful story of a writer’s despair and harrowing experiences. This small picture book, like all of Gorey’s other little dark tales is not to be mistaken as one created for children. If you want to know about Edward Gorey himself, I recommend Born to be Posthumous, a slightly flawed biography of the fascinating man behind the books and drawings.

Great off-beat Gorey tale. A must read if you want an introduction to this unique writer and illustrator. One of the best.

The media could not be loaded.  One of Gorey's wordiest books, it follows the narrative story of Mr. Earbrass, a writer, as he attempts to write a novel. Anyone who has gone through a creative process (such as writing or art) will recognize the entertaining (if not infuriating) stages that Mr. Earbrass experiences. States of procrastination, confusion and eventual satisfaction... If you like this style of book then you might also enjoy:  The Stumps of Flattop Hill

This is the truest-- and most encouraging-- commentary I have ever read on the excitement, pain, embarrassment, distraction, disappointment and eventual repetition of writing a novel. I am revising a novel now, and I return over and over to look at Mr. Earbrass, sitting on the floor with scissors, glue and sherry to fortify himself for the process. It's funny, all right, but if you've ever been there with Mr. Earbrass, bored with your characters and sure that writing is a worthless endeavor, you may find the comedy somewhat smothered under the relief of fellow-feeling.

Such an accurate little book about writing. It's funny, it's Gorey. If you're a Gorey fan, you should just go ahead and get it, it will make you laugh.

The Unstrung Harp, Or, Mr. Earbrass Writes a Novel is a book about writing a book. If you have ever written and published (or tried to publish) a book, you will think every word and picture in The Unstrung Harp is hilarious. Gorey perfectly captures every frustration an author faces as well as most of the odd character quirks every writer seems to share. If you are not a writer, this is still a funny book and will give you insight into the minds of (though I say so myself) a peculiar people.

Some of Edward Gorey's books can be dark but I found this one to be fun and as usual, his art work draws your attention so much that it's hard to concentrate on the story. So I went through the book twice - once for the story and once to study the drawings. I recommend the book.

I have just finished reading a biography of Edward Gorey and knew very little about his work. So I'm collecting some of his little books.

The media could not be loaded.  A fun little book about Mr Earbrass' latest novel. Text and drawings fit better together than several other of Goreys books. I bought my book used and this one did not have jacket.

A wonderful little book. Unlike many of Gorey's little books, this has quite a lot of text. Every word is so well chosen as Mr. Earbrass ploughs thro' every painful stage of writing his novel. I love the pen and ink drawings (I was brought up on Nineteenth Century engravings) and they help to give [[ASIN:0747541558 The Doubtful Guest]the atmosphere of the spooky isolation in which Mr.E pursues his calling.There are beautiful lines which one can quote forever to oneself as no one else will know what on Earth you are talking about. A perfect and postable present.

It will make you laugh and cry and pull your hair out and realise how pretentious your pretensions are and you will never again look at a cover your publisher sends for your approval without thinking of Mr E.