Product Description

Macabre parties in isolated castles ...Gruesome bestial murders ...Talking ravens, hellish black pits, innocents buried alive ...Prepare to be chilled and enthralled by the haunting genius of the acknowledged master of gothic horror and suspense, Edgar Allan Poe. The stories and poems in this complete anthology probe to the depths of the human psyche and include the infamous - and arguably the first ever - detective story "Murders in the Rue Morgue"; the disturbing classic, "The Fall of the House of Usher" and the horrifyingly claustrophobic, "The Pit and the Pendulum". The perfect bedtime read - for the daring and the brave.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #815888 in Books
• Published on: 1989
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1092 pages

From the Inside Flap
All of the tales by the master of the detective and the macabre story. 53 of his best-known poems plus essays and criticisms.

Customer Reviews

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know and a Bit More
This edition of Poe's literary output is the latest incarnation of the original 'Complete Tales & Poems' which came out in 1938 issued by Vintage Press. It has served several generations of students and Poe lovers. Needless to say, it's longevity is proof of basic quality and integrity. For the record, it also includes Poe's two essays, 'The Poetic Principal' and 'The Rationale of Verse.' If you want a 'complete in one volume' approach. This is it.

Truth be told, there are a few technical drawbacks to this edition. The first is size. A thousand pages is a lot to deal with. I always feel clumsy reading it. The other big drawback is print size. I am well into the time of life when tiny print is getting difficult to read. Nor do I like narrow margins.

But really, I don't think one can argue about the sheer quantity of good literature for a reasonable price. It can be read, marked up, dragged around and have coffee spilled on it without ever making its owner feel the least bit guilty. Most of the Poe readers of the world will just love this book. Me, I'm a bit wierd. I would rather have a nice leather bound set of the complete works, rather than just the fiction and poetry, a bit slimmer to hand and easier to read. Considering that that would cost over 20 times the price of this paperback I intend to remain satisfied with this even if it kills me.

A good, though not exactly "complete" collection ...
Edgar A. Poe (he never used Allan in print) has yet to be served by a collection worthy of a writer of his stature. This one certainly does a good job of collecting a great deal of material, including rarities as well as all the stories and poems you already know and love and even his only novel, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym." But the sequence of the works is random (not chronological, as I had hoped) and no notes are provided. Plus, the book's size makes it hard to read without some sort of physical support. Still, it's one of the more complete Poe collections around, and the price is reasonable for a book of this size.

For greater understanding of the short and tumultuous life that produced such astounding works of the imagination, I suggest reading "Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-Ending Rememberance" by Kenneth Silverman in conjunction with this volume. I found it very enlightening to read a couple of chapters of Silverman's entertaining and informative biography, then read only the works produced during that particular period of Poe's life. Aside from the advantage of following his development as a writer and gaining a better understanding of the inspriration behind his work, you get a better cross-section of Poe's extraordinary range -- from comic satirist to journalist to detective fiction writer to, of course, the supreme creator of the horror and science fiction story.

A must for any fan of Poe or short stories!
I have no understanding for people who claim that this volume leaves out some of Poe's most important work; it does not do that at all! On the contrary, this is a complete collection of his short stories and poems, and also includes a biographical introduction, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket," and various critical writings of Poe. Every Poe-fan should have this comprehensive edition!