The pictures are typical Gorey. (That's a good thing.)[SPOILER: When a professor and his colleagues want to make one of his clocks an honorary professor, the clock declines the honor because it would change his status in the home, particularly with a certain feminine clock. My reaction is that the author is being elitist: if the clock is worthy---as the professors think---then why not accept the title? The clock's behavior should not have to change if his worth is recognized and neither should the behavior of his fellow clocks towards him. Or am I being naive? An even bigger problem for me was that I don't understand how the clocks communicate with each other, or even know of each other's existence. Certainly I'm not reading too much into a picture book written by an author known for her adult fiction. As troubling as I find this story, it's not troubling enough for me to keep it.] ( )

It was a very fine clock, indeed. ( )