Edward Gorey (1925–2000) was born in Chicago. He studied briefly at the Art Institute of Chicago, spent three years in the army, and attended Harvard College, where he majored in French literature. In 1953 Gorey published The Unstrung Harp, the first of his many books, which include The Curious Sofa, The Haunted Tea-Cosy, and The Epiplectic Bicycle. In addition to illustrating his own stories, Gorey provided drawings to many books for both children and adults. Of these, New York Review Books has published The Haunted Looking Glass, a collection of Gorey’s favorite ghost stories; The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells; Men and Gods by Rex Warner; and Three Ladies Beside the Sea and He Was There from the Day We Moved In by Rhoda Levine.