I picked up a copy of The Dong With a Luminous Nose by Edward Lear for the title. It was wrapped in cellophane, so what lay between the covers was a mystery. I knew the illustrations would be good, because Edward Gorey is always good, but I was dead curious about what Lear was getting at with this peculiar title. Was it a book about Vietnamese currency? Would the words ‘Long’ and ‘Silver’ also appear? Nah. Too twentieth century. Turns out, the Dong is just a dong…not a name or an appendage, just the Dong. Like, the Dude, I suppose, or the Donald. As for his luminous nose, well, I’ll explain later.
