Shaggy Dog and other Surrealist Fables

Title

en_US Shaggy Dog and other Surrealist Fables

Description

en_US This is a hardbound book (hard cover)

en_US Inscribed by and with an original drawing by Waller

en_US Told by John Waller

Creator

en_US Waller, John See all items with this value

Contributor

en_US Wilson, Frank

Date

2016-01-25T19:29:00Z

en_US 2002-11

en_US 1959

Date Available

2016-01-25T19:29:00Z

Date Issued

en_US 1953

Abstract

en_US I count about sixty-two fables on 67 pages, with five pages afterwards of notes and comments. The illustrations are humorous journalistic cartoons. Waller writes in the Preface that these stories bear comparison with the enigmatic art of Klee, the bizarre landscapes of Dali, or the haunted forests of Max Ernst. In fact, his first two paragraphs are a fine description of a surrealist fable. My impression from reading more than half of the stories is that they are more jokes than surrealist fables. A number are funny. I am not yet convinced that they work the way Klee, Dali, and Ernst do. Among the best for me are The Two Farmers (19) and The Madman Who Was Cured (36). The Original Shaggy Dog Story is excellent (28). Is it perhaps part of the book's tongue-in-cheek that there really is no original shaggy dog story? It strikes me that one generation's shaggy dog is the next generation's old hat. Many of these jokes might have been very strong the first time that a particular category was violated; successive category fractures are less humorous or revealing, I think. This copy is inscribed by Waller, and its first page has an original drawing by Waller.

Identifier

en_US 5121 (Access ID)

uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/80706

Language

en_US eng

Publisher

en_US Gerald Duckworth & Co. LTD,

en_US London

Subject

en_US PR6045.A3372 S5 1953 See all items with this value

en_US Title Page Scanned See all items with this value

Type

en_US Book, Whole