US & Canadian Literary Biography, Biography Reference, Literary Reference, Literary Biography

Edgar Allan Poe, A to Z

Name: Edgar Allan Poe, A to Z
Author: Dawn B. Sova
ISBN: 9780816038503

by Dawn B. Sova

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Overview

Few authors can claim Edgar Allan Poe's influence on literary and popular culture. During his short and turbulent life, he became a pioneer of the detective and horror genres with his immortal tales and poems. Best known for the haunting melody of his poetry and prose, his classic tales include "The Raven," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Cask of Amontillado," and "The Pit and the Pendulum." Poe also wrote numerous critical articles and reviews, essays, and magazine articles on a wide variety of subjects. This comprehensive guide contains more than 2,000 entries covering all aspects of his life and work, including: relationships with friends, relatives, and associates; synopses of his tales, poems, and critical works; descriptions of his characters, from C. Auguste Dupin to Montresor; film and musical adaptations of his works; and places that influenced Poe, from Baltimore to New York City.

Dawn B. is the author of Agatha Christie A to Z(nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1996), Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds, Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Sexual Grounds , and co-author of 1100 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature, all for Facts On File/Checkmark Books. She teaches at Montclair State University and lives in Garfield, NJ.

Winner of the 2002 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Critical/Biographical Work.

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Editorials

VOYA

A prolific author and an American literary icon, Poe published more than 350 stories, poems, essays, and critical articles, and he is credited widely with inventing the modern day detective story that features an investigator who relies on his wits to solve crimes. Poe's writing continues simultaneously to fascinate and disturb modern day readers, appealing to the darker undercurrents of the psyche and reveling in the emotional intricacies of love and betrayal. Born in Boston in 1809 and dead by the age of forty, Poe was an acknowledged alcoholic. His turbulent life included service in the army, court martial and dismissal from West Point, marriage to a cousin thirteen years his junior (Virginia Clemm was only fourteen when they wed), and a broken engagement. Entries are included on the characters in his prose and poetry, his contemporaries, his literary criticism, and the publishing and dramatization history, characters, plot synopsis, and writer's notes for each of his short stories. Black-and-white portraits and prints illustrate the book. Sova's comprehensive work is filled with fascinating details of the people and events that constituted Poe's life and world. It includes appendixes featuring a time line of Poe's life, a chronology of his works, a listing of Poe research collections, and a selected bibliography. English teachers at both the junior and senior high school levels who include Poe in their curriculum will appreciate the thoroughness of this single-volume reference work. Illus. Biblio. Chronology. Appendix. 2001, Facts on File, 310p. Index. PLB $65. Ages 13 to Adult. Reviewer:Cindy Lombardo—VOYA, December 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 5)

Booknews

Drawing from a broad range of sources, including personal correspondence and reviews, this book covers all of Poe's major and most of his minor works, as well as his personal life. Approximately 3,400 entries include synopses of his stories, poems and critical works, descriptions of characters, details about his family and friends, and discussion of his influence. A complete cross- referencing of all character and titles is featured, as is a chronology of his works. Forty-nine black and white photographs and illustrations are included. Sova teaches at Montclair State University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)