In The Fraught Settee, Edward Gorey serves what he calls “the universal solvent” in Edwardian parlors, where fainting couches host feverish affairs and fretful discontent. Knowing that Gorey had a penchant for nonsense verse, one wonders whether Q.R.V. is a cryptic cure-all or drivel of a dubious nature. The illusive concoction’s initials appear on the cover of the book, though its title does not. Published by Gorey’s Fantod Press in 1990, this collection of verse is as enigmatic as its creator.