
- 608 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
A groundbreaking exploration of one of America’s most iconic and misunderstood authors
Edgar Allan Poe: A Life is the most comprehensive critical biography of Poe yet produced, exploring his fascinating life, his extraordinary work, and the vital relationship between the two. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre found in such works as “The Raven,” “Annabel Lee,” and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” this legendary American author continues to intrigue and enthrall his devoted readers. Written by one of the world’s leading Poe experts, this biography is a rich and rewarding study for the general reader as well as for the seasoned scholar. Richard Kopley combines a biographical narrative of Poe’s enduring challenges—including his difficult foster father, his personal losses, his great struggles with depression and alcoholism, and the poverty that dogged his existence—with close readings of his work that focus not only on plot, character, and theme but also on language, allusion, and structure in a way that enhances our understanding of both. While incorporating past Poe scholarship, this volume also relates unknown stories of Poe culled from privately held letters unavailable to previous biographers, presenting a range of groundbreaking archival discoveries that illuminate the man and his oeuvre in ways never before possible.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Abbreviations
- 1. âNo Tie More Strongâ â 1809â1811
- 2. âFrom Childhoodâs Hourâ â 1811â1815
- 3. âThe Flap of Its Wings in My Earâ â 1815â1820
- 4. âWith Many Cares and Toils Oppressâdâ â 1820â1825
- 5. âMistakes for Manhood to Reformâ â 1826
- 6. âAbroad on the Wide Earthâ â 1827
- 7. âIn the American Armyâ â 1827â1829
- 8. âIrrecoverably a Poetâ â 1829â1830
- 11. âNothing Would Give Me Greater Pleasureâ â 1834â1835
- 12. âA Fair Prospect of Future Successâ â 1835â1837
- 13. âA Flattering Invitationâ â 1837â1838
- 14. âI Shall Remain in Philadelphia Perhaps for a Yearâ â 1838â1840
- 15. âFortune & Fame Must Go Hand in Handâ â 1840â1842
- 16. âAs Regards MyselfâI Will Probably Succeed Tooâ â 1842
- 17. âI Would Say to You, Without Hesitation, Aspireâ â 1843â1844
- 18. âA Certainty of Successâ â 1844â1845
- 19. âIt Will Be a Fortune to Me If I Can Hold Itâ â 1845â1846
- 20. âThere Is a Sweet Hope in the Bottom of My Soulâ â 1846â1847
- 21. âThen My Heart It Grew Ashen and Soberâ â 1847â1848
- 22. âI Feel I Am Now a Prophetâ â 1848
- 23. âThe Passionate Throbbings of My Heartâ â 1848â1849
- 24. âAll May Yet Go Wellâ â 1849
- 25. âHope for a Wretch Like Meâ â 1849
- Conclusion â âA Dream within a Dreamâ
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Index