Product Description

The most complete collection of Poe's critical writings ever published, revealing his wit, uncompromising candor, and breadth of knowledge. Contains all his major writings on poetry, fiction, and the duties of a critic, along with his reviews of writers both known and unknown, and finally, his articles on a wealth of subjects, including South Sea exploration, geography, music, drama, cryptography, ancient languages, and modern critics.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #316648 in Books
• Published on: 1984-08-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1544 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780940450196
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
A splendid new ed]@²¯n. -- Richard Wilbur, The New York Times Book Review

Poe's criticism has never been made fully available until now. -- Harold Bloom, The New York Review of Books

From the Publisher
The Library of America is an award-winning, nonprofit program dedicated to publishing America's best and most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. Hailed as "the most important book-publishing project in the nation's history" (Newsweek), this acclaimed series is restoring America's literary heritage in "the finest-looking, longest-lasting edition ever made" (New Republic).

Customer Reviews

This book is essential for any serious study of poe.
I highly recommend this book! It is Poe in his own words. This book is a brilliant answer to many off-the-wall interpretations of his theories and life. This book is essential to any serious study of Poe, and certainly for any journalist or writer who wants to read a master at work! Poe was not just a fiction writer. He was the first artist as critic in America's history. This book will allow you to see Poe as a man.

Once owned, it is indispensable
I'll confess that I am only about 200 pages into this very lengthy book (but have skipped ahead occasionally to find his reviews of favorite authors), but I can say without hesitation that those pages alone have been worth the price. And with every paragraph I actually wish the book were longer. Anyone who truly appreciates the depth and soul of Poe's fiction and poetry, and the tragic life behind their creation, could not help but relish the man's words on any subject. Poe biographies are fine, but nothing can touch his own voice. His reviews of well-known writers like Hawthorne, Coleridge and Longfellow, among so many others, are gems of knowledge, humor and biting honesty that may surprise those who have as yet only been held in cherished suspense by his fiction. And his critiques of lesser known authors will probably serve to make a curious reader search out their work, even when he brutalizes it, as he often does! This book is a huge body of Poe's non-fiction, and the writing proves captivating, irreverently witty and beyond impressive in its scholarship. Above all, it shows the man as undeniably brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.