Edgar Allan Poe: The Selected Works

by Edgar Allan Poe, Running Press (Publisher)

This creepy, compact anthology includes four of Edgar Allan Poe's most popular tales of terror - The Masque of the Red Death, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Black Cat. Also including six haunting poems and a biography on Poe, this miniature volume is the perfect introduction to the Master of the Macabre.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, Poetry

292 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2014

About the author

The name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.

Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.

The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...

Reviews

[[ J o ] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly, for such a tiny book, this novelty actually includes complete works as opposed to snippets. 'The Raven' is laid out in all its glory, as are many other well-loved poems and stories ('The Tell-tale Heart' being one of them). It's a great place to start with Edgar's writings since it contains his most famous, and they are evocative and enduring both.


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[Iskra Profil nije aktivan u ovo vreme. · Rating 5 out of 5]

5🌟
Fascinantna dela su ovde sabrana.

[Hugo Chinchilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book by Edgar Allan Poe is an exquisite work. After reading his biography I can understand why his exceptional works are so dark, and sometimes cruel, because the life he lived was like that. Cruel, ruthless, with death present in all stages of his life. This small book, in addition to being read quickly, allows the reader to get passionate and start in the fantastic world of poems and short stories by this wonderful author.

[Carol Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

How does one not score Poe highly? This collection was a little uneven but I cut my teeth on his stuff. I'd give it a 5 star if they'd translated the French for me. I don't have time to learn French this year.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Raven was my favourite poem in this small book. I thought it was beautiful. My favourite tale was The Tell-Tale Heart. I want to read more of Edgar Allan Poe's work in the near future. ugh it was really good

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! it has the Poe's best works and it's really pretty and cute

[Bacon Pancake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quaint little book! It's charm for me. Keep it in my backpack at all times. Whenever I feel like I am about to lose my marbles, I take it and just read the poems. :)

[Dennise Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

He isn’t called the “Master of the Detective Story” for no reason. As always reading Poe is pure entertainment. Loved this short tiny volume that contains great pieces of his work.