Edgar Allan Poe

Rating:
Summary: no more! no more, nevermore please..
Review: First of all, this biograpy does not critique or even mention when he wrote or published the stories of "William Wilson" and "The Pit and the Pendalum." This biography isn't as concerned for the work of Poe as what people of that time said and thought of him.

First half is an overkill of facts, quotes, rumors, and articles about Poe. Author seems to give no true opinion and is completely uncreative for as to how to make these facts and rumors about his character seems interesting to the reader.

It's not until well into the second half that the author seems to realize he's lead his audience to a bricked up wall. But behind the wall, we are willfully burried and sleeping in the hopes that he will not wake our slumber. Realizing this, he tries to revive us through a seance of medeocre creativity.

He does seem to put to rest the rumors circulating about the death of Mr. Poe.

But overall, this book is unimaginative, soulless, and a dozing to constantly waking history lesson of what it was to be an early American author.

Rating:
Summary: Unsympathetic
Review: I know a lot more about the life of Edgar Allan Poe after having read this book, and for that reason I'm glad I read it.

It's not, however, the most flattering of biographies. It would be an exaggeration to call Jeffrey Meyer's biography a hatchet job, but not much of one. You get the sense that the author wanted to take Poe's reputation down a peg or two. He portrays the troubled writer as not much more than a hypocritical, back-stabbing, often insincere hack who had the good fortune of stumbling upon a few brilliant turns of phrase. I don't doubt any of the factual information that Meyers provides about Poe's life. I just question the author's intent in piling high so many unflattering details. After a while, you get to wondering why Meyers even bothered writing a three hundred page book about the man.

I recommend this book to fans and scholars alike for the facts it provides about Poe's life, but with a warning regarding the biographer's unsympathetic and often harsh tone.

Rating:
Summary: Edgar Allan Poe rocks!
Review: This book was great it shows all sides of Poe. I learned a lot about Edgar Allan Poe by reading this book. Anyone who wants to know anything about Poe should reasd thsi book. A great choice.