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The Curious Sofa

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The Curious Sofa
Illustration of a red sofa through an open door, with the legs and feet of partially visible people shown above and below it
AuthorEdward Gorey (Ogdred Weary)
IllustratorEdward Gorey (Ogdred Weary)
Cover artistEdward Gorey (Ogdred Weary)
PublisherI. Obolensky
Publication date
1961
ISBN978-0-396-07861-6 (1980 reprint)
OCLC1943444
Preceded byThe Fatal Lozenge: An Alphabet 
Followed byThe Hapless Child 

The Curious Sofa is a 1961 book by American illustrator and writer Edward Gorey, published under the anagrammatic pen name Ogdred Weary. According to the cover, the book is a "pornographic illustrated story about furniture." While the book contains no explicit content, it uses visual innuendo, such as urns, tree branches, and drapery, to suggest sexual situations. The New York Times Book Review referred to it as "Gorey's naughty, hilarious travesty of lust." Gorey stated that the work was intended as a satire of the erotic novel Story of O.[1]

The Curious Sofa was later included in the 1972 anthology Amphigorey.[2]

The German translation was banned in Austria in 1966 on the grounds of "This publication is therefore suitable for deleteriously influencing the moral, mental and health development of young people, particularly by stimulating lustfulness and misleading the sex drive."[3]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Gardner, Paul (September 19, 1977). "Theater: A Pain in The Neck". New York. p. 68.
  2. ^ Gorey, Edward (1972). Amphigorey. New York: Putnam's Sons. p. 108. OCLC 1955344. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  3. ^ Das Geheimnis der Ottomane. Zürich. 1981.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)--Included in Der zweifelhafte Gast: Elf merkwürdige Geschichten. Zürich: Diogenes, [1973]

Other sources

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