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The Facts in the Case of E. A. Poe by Andrew Sinclair
'The book is a bravura performance, exhibiting the virtuosity that has lit up all Sinclair's work.' - C.P. Snow, Financial Times
'This is a rich and satisfying hybrid work - part fiction and part biography. Its hold on the reader stems, at least in part, from its use of one of the most successful of literary the quest. It was this structure which gave A.J.A. Symons's The Quest for Corvo such hypnotic appeal.... Mr Sinclair's insights, credited to Pons, are those of a distinguished novelist. He intuitively perceives the relationship between Poe's life and work, anatomising it in witty and sometimes brilliant prose.' - Paul Ableman, Spectator
'Clever, macabre, spellbinding, The Facts in the Case of E. A. Poe is Andrew Sinclair's brilliant combination of biography and fiction, taken to the limits of the united genre.... [T]he result is a strangely disturbing and powerfully revealing piece of literature, one Poe himself - if sober - might have genuinely approved.' - Houston Post
'[E]xtremely clever and enjoyable, and one that Poe might himself have appreciated. Mr. Sinclair's dovetailing of Poe's life and Pons's reflections is so smoothly done, and his narrative touch so delicate, that those who know nothing of Poe's sad story are likely to be held as firmly as those familiar with it.... The ghost of Poe can have inspired few more entertaining or ingenious books.' - Julian Symons, New York Times
'Sinclair is one of our most intelligent novelists, and The Facts in the Case of E. A. Poe is a book full of wit, thought and perception - an ingeniousness of composition which the author of "The Raven" might have himself approved.' - The Scotsman
'The book (bionovel? autofictography? madnessscript?) turns out to be a thoroughly absorbing read. The use of an eccentric fictional biographer like Pons gives the "real" biographer, Sinclair, the freedom to indulge in amusingly wild flights of speculative fancy which he would no doubt have suppressed in a more conventional work.' - The Listener
Ernest Albert Pons is a Holocaust survivor with an unusual coping he lives in the delusion that he is, in fact, Edgar Allan Poe. His psychiatrist Dupin (chosen because he shares a name with Poe's fictional detective) has a radical idea for Pons must see for himself that he is not Poe by retracing the poet's steps and writing an analysis of his life. As Pons pursues Poe from his childhood and university years in Virginia to his adult life in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, we gradually learn the secrets of both men's pasts. But when Pons begins to suspect Dupin may be engineering an elaborate scheme to kill him, is it just another part of his delusion, or is Dupin plotting a macabre twist worthy of Poe?
A wholly unique book that manages to blend seamlessly a page-turning mystery with an important work of Poe criticism and biography, The Facts in the Case of E. A. Poe (1979) was widely acclaimed on its initial publication and returns to print in this new edition, which includes a new introduction by Andrew Sinclair.
'This is a rich and satisfying hybrid work - part fiction and part biography. Its hold on the reader stems, at least in part, from its use of one of the most successful of literary the quest. It was this structure which gave A.J.A. Symons's The Quest for Corvo such hypnotic appeal.... Mr Sinclair's insights, credited to Pons, are those of a distinguished novelist. He intuitively perceives the relationship between Poe's life and work, anatomising it in witty and sometimes brilliant prose.' - Paul Ableman, Spectator
'Clever, macabre, spellbinding, The Facts in the Case of E. A. Poe is Andrew Sinclair's brilliant combination of biography and fiction, taken to the limits of the united genre.... [T]he result is a strangely disturbing and powerfully revealing piece of literature, one Poe himself - if sober - might have genuinely approved.' - Houston Post
'[E]xtremely clever and enjoyable, and one that Poe might himself have appreciated. Mr. Sinclair's dovetailing of Poe's life and Pons's reflections is so smoothly done, and his narrative touch so delicate, that those who know nothing of Poe's sad story are likely to be held as firmly as those familiar with it.... The ghost of Poe can have inspired few more entertaining or ingenious books.' - Julian Symons, New York Times
'Sinclair is one of our most intelligent novelists, and The Facts in the Case of E. A. Poe is a book full of wit, thought and perception - an ingeniousness of composition which the author of "The Raven" might have himself approved.' - The Scotsman
'The book (bionovel? autofictography? madnessscript?) turns out to be a thoroughly absorbing read. The use of an eccentric fictional biographer like Pons gives the "real" biographer, Sinclair, the freedom to indulge in amusingly wild flights of speculative fancy which he would no doubt have suppressed in a more conventional work.' - The Listener
Ernest Albert Pons is a Holocaust survivor with an unusual coping he lives in the delusion that he is, in fact, Edgar Allan Poe. His psychiatrist Dupin (chosen because he shares a name with Poe's fictional detective) has a radical idea for Pons must see for himself that he is not Poe by retracing the poet's steps and writing an analysis of his life. As Pons pursues Poe from his childhood and university years in Virginia to his adult life in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, we gradually learn the secrets of both men's pasts. But when Pons begins to suspect Dupin may be engineering an elaborate scheme to kill him, is it just another part of his delusion, or is Dupin plotting a macabre twist worthy of Poe?
A wholly unique book that manages to blend seamlessly a page-turning mystery with an important work of Poe criticism and biography, The Facts in the Case of E. A. Poe (1979) was widely acclaimed on its initial publication and returns to print in this new edition, which includes a new introduction by Andrew Sinclair.
- GenresFiction
Paperback
First published October 18, 2013
3 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Sinclair
187 books29 followersAndrew Sinclair was born in Oxford in 1935 and was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. After earning a Ph.D. in American History from Cambridge, he pursued an academic career in the United States and England. His first two novels, written while he was still at Cambridge, were both published in 1959: The Breaking of Bumbo (based on his own experience in the Coldstream Guards, and later adapted for a 1970 film written and directed by Sinclair) and My Friend Judas. Other early novels included The Project (1960), The Hallelujah Bum (1963), and The Raker (1964). The latter, also available from Valancourt, is a clever mix of Gothic fantasy and macabre comedy and was inspired by Sinclair’s relationship with Derek Lindsay, the pseudonymous author of the acclaimed novel The Rack (1958). Sinclair’s best-known novel, Gog (1967), a highly imaginative, picaresque account of the adventures of a seven-foot-tall man who washes ashore on the Scottish coast, naked and suffering from amnesia, has been named one of the top 100 modern fantasy novels. As the first in the ‘Albion Triptych’, it was followed by Magog (1972) and King Ludd (1988).
Sinclair’s varied and prolific career has also included work in film and a large output of nonfiction. As a director, he is best known for Under Milk Wood (1972), adapted from a Dylan Thomas play and starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Sinclair’s nonfiction includes works on American history (including The Better Half: The Emancipation of the American Woman, which won the 1967 Somerset Maugham Award), books on Dylan Thomas, Jack London, Che Guevara, and Francis Bacon, and, more recently, works on the Knights Templar and the Freemasons.
Sinclair was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1972. He lives in London.
Sinclair’s varied and prolific career has also included work in film and a large output of nonfiction. As a director, he is best known for Under Milk Wood (1972), adapted from a Dylan Thomas play and starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Sinclair’s nonfiction includes works on American history (including The Better Half: The Emancipation of the American Woman, which won the 1967 Somerset Maugham Award), books on Dylan Thomas, Jack London, Che Guevara, and Francis Bacon, and, more recently, works on the Knights Templar and the Freemasons.
Sinclair was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1972. He lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 13, 2010
Ernest Albert Pons is the reincarnation of Edgar Allen Poe. At least, he is convinced that he is. His psychiatrist Dr. Dupin, chosen simply for his name, doesn't buy it. After treating him for some time, the doctor challenges Pons to really get to know Poe, by retracing his steps from infancy to childhood, adulthood to death. Then he can finally see where Poe ends and Pons begins.
That was the plan, anyway. But somewhere along the line, the story becomes a mesh of the two men. As Pons delves deeper into the life of Poe, his own story keeps intruding. The early death of his mother, his lost love, and his narrow escape from death in the concentration camps along with almost his entire family. But the further the book progresses, the more it becomes obvious that while Pons is obsessed to the point of insanity, sometimes he is quite sane enough to question the motives of his doctor. Just who is telling the truth? Can the reader trust anyone in this complicated tale?
I really enjoyed this book. It is along the same lines as A Three Pipe Problem, where an actor gets himself enmeshed with the great Holmes. But the two are quite different. The Holmes book is more of a complicated murder mystery, reflecting the tone of the books by Doyle. This one does read like something Poe might have imagined, with an obsessive character driven to self-destructive acts and impulses which are either completely delusional or totally sane, and no way to distinguish between the two.
I would recommend this one. I just found it at the library and was caught by the title. If you are a fan of Poe or if you like the psychological novel, I think you would find a lot about this story to enjoy. Now I'm going to look for anything else by this author.
That was the plan, anyway. But somewhere along the line, the story becomes a mesh of the two men. As Pons delves deeper into the life of Poe, his own story keeps intruding. The early death of his mother, his lost love, and his narrow escape from death in the concentration camps along with almost his entire family. But the further the book progresses, the more it becomes obvious that while Pons is obsessed to the point of insanity, sometimes he is quite sane enough to question the motives of his doctor. Just who is telling the truth? Can the reader trust anyone in this complicated tale?
I really enjoyed this book. It is along the same lines as A Three Pipe Problem, where an actor gets himself enmeshed with the great Holmes. But the two are quite different. The Holmes book is more of a complicated murder mystery, reflecting the tone of the books by Doyle. This one does read like something Poe might have imagined, with an obsessive character driven to self-destructive acts and impulses which are either completely delusional or totally sane, and no way to distinguish between the two.
I would recommend this one. I just found it at the library and was caught by the title. If you are a fan of Poe or if you like the psychological novel, I think you would find a lot about this story to enjoy. Now I'm going to look for anything else by this author.
September 30, 2021
Not bad, more of an examination of Poe than anything else. The story of an unreliable narrator's psychological breakdown sometimes felt at odds with the rest of the book. This narrator does make an interesting character, if an unbelievable drama queen.
July 22, 2018
More biography of Poe than anything.
November 7, 2015
I read a book a long time ago called Gog. My friend's father, a doctor, had the book and I said I had read it. He said it was not a very good book. There is some graphic content. I think he said that because he was embarrassed. He was a doctor. I think the book was beyond my reading level at the time, but I liked the fact that it had incorporated the story of an apocalyptic battle from the Bible between Gog and Magog. Also the graphic content. For some reason, I remembered this book recently and searched for it. I found it, and perused it a bit, but it was a little too deep and long for me at this particular moment. I have a lot of books that I want to read before I will be able to get around to this one. I was impressed that I was able to read it as a teenager. Anyway, he also wrote a biography of Harding, called The Available Man. I remembered that book was on the back of the jacket. I also later read about Harding and his scandal prone administration in one of the books of historical fiction by Gore Vidal. Harding died in the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, room 804. He might have been poisoned by his wife, as he had a few mistresses, and even fathered an illegitimate daughter while in office. Getting off the track, but to bring it back, Andrew Sinclair wrote about a wide variety of topics. Some of his books were fiction. Some were non-fiction. Some combined the two in a hybrid form, such as this one.
This is a fantastic book. There is a guy who thinks he is Poe and his analyst challenges him to analyze why he feels like that. He writes a biography of Poe, visiting the places where Poe lived & wrote. He also analyzes himself & Poe. It is a really novel idea for a novel. & I am learning so much about Poe. I took a class on the correspondences between Poe and Baudelaire, and I also visited Poe's grave in Baltimore. The protagonist of this book visits Poe's grave, as well as all the places he lived. He also visited Baudelaire's grave in Paris, and the places where Baudelaire lived and wrote. The result was a biography that not only elucidates the life and work of Poe, but breaks down the wall between biographer and subject, allowing him to hold forth on the influence of Poe in our present culture, as well as anything else that tickles his fancy. Bravo, Mr. Sinclair.
This is a fantastic book. There is a guy who thinks he is Poe and his analyst challenges him to analyze why he feels like that. He writes a biography of Poe, visiting the places where Poe lived & wrote. He also analyzes himself & Poe. It is a really novel idea for a novel. & I am learning so much about Poe. I took a class on the correspondences between Poe and Baudelaire, and I also visited Poe's grave in Baltimore. The protagonist of this book visits Poe's grave, as well as all the places he lived. He also visited Baudelaire's grave in Paris, and the places where Baudelaire lived and wrote. The result was a biography that not only elucidates the life and work of Poe, but breaks down the wall between biographer and subject, allowing him to hold forth on the influence of Poe in our present culture, as well as anything else that tickles his fancy. Bravo, Mr. Sinclair.
May 12, 2015
I am a fan of Edgar Allan Poe, so finding this book about a man who in his mind believes that he is E. A. Poe, lives his life in attempting to be him. It is a story of identity and psychoanalysis an delusion, yet it is a sort of mini biography of Poe as well. The author (E. A. Pons) takes us to all of Poe's haunts around America and even into Europe. It is a kind of internal "auto" biography of who Poe was, and at the same time, who this slightly delusional Pons is.
The book feels like it would matter to fans of Poe more so than to the average reader. But I cannot be sure this is true since I am a fan. I found it to be interesting and having read many bios of Poe, I got all the connections to places and stories that are referenced throughout. The casual reader may not find this a interesting. It was a good book, but not exceptional like I wanted it to be.
The book feels like it would matter to fans of Poe more so than to the average reader. But I cannot be sure this is true since I am a fan. I found it to be interesting and having read many bios of Poe, I got all the connections to places and stories that are referenced throughout. The casual reader may not find this a interesting. It was a good book, but not exceptional like I wanted it to be.
June 24, 2012
A neurotic man, E.A. Pons, who over-identifies with Poe, is ordered by his psychiatrist to research the life of Poe to differentiate himself from Poe. The patient writes a very interesting biography of Poe which is the only good part of the book. The plot in present time with Pons and his psychiatrist is pretty stupid and I started to skip all of those sections.
April 4, 2017
I wanted to like this book - I love Edgar Allan Poe - but its exposition and dialogue were heavy-handed and amateurish. This is a shame: had this book been well-written, it could have been an interesting contribution to horror fiction.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews