Product Description

Anyone who brings home this book will be in big trouble. Renowned artist Brian Froud and scholar Ari Berk have conducted a thorough investigation into the goblin realm. (For the uninformed, goblins, a subspecies of faery, are those maleficent creatures that cause all manner of havoc in the human realm.) The fruit of their labor, however, turned out to be a rotten apple: the book is infected with goblins.

Now, thanks largely to Froud and Berk's continuing carelessness, the noxious, viscid, and largely nonsensical volume has been unleashed on an unsuspecting public. Among its pages are reproductions of the ancient, odoriferous Codex Goblinensis; a glossary of common goblins and their markings; and a gazetteer of goblin photographs taken with the arcane Goblin Camera. Those fearing an infestation can refer to the section detailing how to determine if you've "got goblins" and, if so, what you can do about it. (There is nothing you can do about it.)

Combining the folkloric approach of Faeries with the utter wackiness of Lady Cottington, this is the team's most visually rich and outrageous opus yet.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #135090 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 88 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The conceit of renowned fantasy illustrator Froud’s latest book (after The Runes of Elfland; Lady Cottington’s Faerie Album; Faeries; etc.) is a clever one. The title page announces that, after working on the text and illustrations, Froud and his colleague Berk disappeared, leaving behind the dangerous fruits of their research into the goblin world. In a letter marked with suspicious red scribbles, they beg the publisher not to print their work, but the publisher decides to go ahead and release the book "as is"—which means that Froud’s drawings and Berk’s notes appear mussed up by dirty goblin fingerprints and scrawled with indignant goblin commentary. For example, next to Froud’s drawing of a very grubby goblin named the Royal Lady Empyreuma Frouzy, the authors’ goblin informer writes: "nonsense this is sardine sallie she olde girrlfriend." The whole book is pretty delightful, even for—or perhaps especially for—those who couldn’t stand Froud’s pretty, ethereal faeries.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Brian Froud is an award-winning illustrator, author, and faery authority. His books include the international best-sellers Faeries, Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book, Lady Cottington's Fairy Album, and The Faeries' Oracle. He also served as the conceptual designer on Jim Henson's films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Froud lives in Devon, England. Ari Berk is a folklorist, poet, and scholar of literature, ethnography, iconography, and comparative myth. He is also the author of popular titles for children, as well as The Runes of Elfland with Brian Froud. Berk is associate professor of English at Central Michigan University.

Customer Reviews

Finally something different
Another amazing Froud book. I love this one because its very funny and it shows a darker side of the Fae. Its not the typical pretty faery book. The pictures are (as always) really great. Another Froudian must have.

Goblins!
This is a great book, exactly what I was looking for! The illustrations and the commentary are wonderful.. and it fits in perfectly with my fairy collection.

Gobs of fun
At first reading, it's more of what Froud has done so well, so often. His delicate, dangerous caricatures take on little eldritch lives of their own. His palette tends to the gray, brown, and olive, with delicate pen strokes for outlines and emphasis. A little story goes with each, and larger story ties them all together.

There's a larger story still, outside of the story here. Glimpses of that create the spell that lifts the hairs at the nape of your neck - knowing that something is going horribly awry, but never knowing quite what. The basic idea is clever enough idea. The book as a whole, though, is a brilliant vehicle for that idea. It suffers from a few small flaws, but only a few and only small. I recommend this to anyone who loves the faerie (and not just the fey or fairy), or who loves fantasy art.

//wiredweird