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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 818.309
EAN: 9780143039914
ISBN: 0143039911
Label: Penguin Classics
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 688
Publication Date: 2006-10-03
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Studio: Penguin Classics

A fully revised collection of Poe’s work

The first new edition of this landmark anthology since 1945 presents a more complicated, perverse, and culturally engaged Poe. Along with the author’s familiar masterworks in poetry and fiction, this new Portable Poe includes satirical tales that reflect his critique of American culture.

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The essential Poe
Review: This volume contains the essential Poe, the stories and poems for which he is most well- known.
Like all American schoolchildren I had to read Poe when I was quite young. And I remember how his tales did not provide the kind of pleasure and insight I had found in other literature. "The Gold Bug" confounded me , and "The Tell- Tale Heart" frightened me, and the truth is even in adult years I have never taken much delight in the reading of the fictions of Poe.
The horror of real life has always seemed to me more than enough, and I have never particularly enjoyed the mood and tone of Poe's fictions.
I must admit too that Poe always seemed to me even when reading him as a child , 'extremely weird' to use a children's word. And ' weird' not simply with the connotation of ' strange' but of 'frighteningly so'.
In any case there is a Poe that I have treasured. It might not be in the whole of the poem, but in the rhythmn of 'Nevermore' there did strike a kind of fascinating note. And there are in the poetry of Poe great lines, 'the beauty that was Greece, the glory that was Rome'. And a sadness and a feeling of tragedy in some of the love- poetry.
Poe is of course much else to most other readers than to me, and the lovers of mystery stories, and detectives, of fictional conundrums tending toward horror, and of strange obsessions with beauty that dies young, will find more than they ask for in this anthology.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: All the Poe You'll Ever Need
Review: Unless you're a collector or completist, this volume compiles all the Poe you could possibly ask for. All the classic stories are here, and you can clearly see how Poe broke new ground and influenced all creative fiction that came after him. While most people are wary of "classics" that everybody talks about, but nobody seems to really like, Poe's classics will give you a true appreciation for his genius. You will truly be enthralled by such well-known tales like "The Pit and the Pendulum", "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (in which Poe invents the detective story), and especially the immortal "The Raven".

The editor has included many of the surviving letters that Poe wrote to the various women he unsuccessfully tried to court, and especially to his cruel stepfather, which provide great insight into Poe's inner demons. If you ever wonder why most of Poe's stories are based on death and/or madness, these letters will show you why. The only problem with this particular book is that it is a little too exhaustive, and includes many items that are more of historical interest than they are readable. This is true of most of the entries in the Articles, Criticism, and Opinions sections of the book.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Annabel Lee
Review: I think it was emotional and she was sick and really ill after catching a chill on a beach,the authoris mourning the death of his lover.

in my opinion it was sad,but a great book.there is alot of romance. It was kind of hard toread because i'm only 9 and I had to have someone explain the story to me.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Ahh Poe. . .
Review: Of all the writers you were forced to read in High School, Poe may be the most contemporary. After all, where would today's Alternative Goth culture be without the influence of Poe.

In this volume, fans of the strange genius are given a rare treat. Editor Philip Van Doren Stern has collected not only the all-time greats (e.g. "The Tell-Tale Heart" "The Pit and the Pendulum" "The Raven" etc.), but also some eccentric choices like "The Man of the Crowd". In addition, the book gives several non-fiction articles and literary reviews written by Poe showing that he was not without a practical side.

But perhaps the most fascinating thing is a section of letters Poe wrote, to among other people, his stepfather, his wife, his mother-in-law, and various members of the literary community. These paint a colorful picture of his often desperate existence. After reading these letters, you may think Poe tragic, pathetic, pretentious or maybe even egotistical, but you wll never think of him in quite the same way you previously did.

Read this book for a fresh look at one of American literature's greatest geniuses.

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