Edgar Allan Poe: Life and Legacy

Be the first to write a review

Overview

Edgar Allan Poe, whose personal torment so powerfully informed his visionary prose and poetry, is a towering figure in the history of American literature. The archetype of the suffering artist, he lived from one extreme to the other: he knew fame and obscurity, wealth and destitution, and the loss of everything he cherished. His fevered imagination brought him to great heights of creativity and the depths of paranoiac despair. Yet although he produced a relatively small volume of work, he virtually invented the ...
See more details below
Available through our Marketplace sellers.
See All Options
Other sellers (Hardcover)
  • All (8) from $3.66   
  • Used (8) from $3.66   
Close
Sort by
Page 1 of 1
Showing All
Note: Marketplace items are not eligible for any BN.com coupons and promotions
$3.66
Books Squared
Seller since 2009

Feedback rating:

(5896)

Condition:

New — never opened or used in original packaging.

Like New — packaging may have been opened. A "Like New" item is suitable to give as a gift.

Very Good — may have minor signs of wear on packaging but item works perfectly and has no damage.

Good — item is in good condition but packaging may have signs of shelf wear/aging or torn packaging. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Acceptable — item is in working order but may show signs of wear such as scratches or torn packaging. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Used — An item that has been opened and may show signs of wear. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Refurbished — A used item that has been renewed or updated and verified to be in proper working condition. Not necessarily completed by the original manufacturer.

Good
Only lightly used. Book has minimal wear to cover and binding. A few pages may have small creases and minimal underlining. Book selection as BIG as Texas.

Ships from: Dallas, TX

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$4.00
Book Culture Inc.
Seller since 2011

Feedback rating:

(80)

Condition: Good
1992 Hardcover Good Shipped from a real independent book store in Manhattan.

Ships from: New York, NY

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$7.49
North America Trader
Seller since 2013

Feedback rating:

(5)

Condition: Good
Good Hard cover book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and are not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine is undamaged. Dust cover is intact, ... with no nicks or tears. This is a ex library book, stickers and markings accordingly. 100% satisfaction quaranteed. Read more Show Less

Ships from: Old Bridge, NJ

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$8.60
Extremely_Reliable
Seller since 2007

Feedback rating:

(7831)

Condition: Good
Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.

Ships from: Richmond, TX

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
$10.45
woodysbooks
Seller since 2009

Feedback rating:

(4031)

Condition: Good
Excellent customer service. May ship from alternate location depending on your zip code and availability. Satisfaction guaranteed!!

Ships from: Martinez, CA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
$15.00
Tavnon Books NY
Seller since 2006

Feedback rating:

(68)

Condition: Like New
Old Tappan, New Jersey, U.S.A. 1992 Hardcover 1st Edition Fine in Very Good jacket Illustrated. A VG+ to near Fine hardbound copy in VG dust jacket, that is fine but for razor ... think slit across the front cover, not price-clipped, name of former owner corner of front free endaper. Read more Show Less

Ships from: Florence, MA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$22.75
Sandman Book Company
Seller since 2010

Feedback rating:

(137)

Condition: Good
0684193701 Used book, in good condition |No supplements | Normal wear to cover and spine | Page markings | Inventory sticker present | Satisfaction guaranteed!

Ships from: Punta Gorda, FL

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
$22.75
Crashing Rocks Bookstore
Seller since 2012

Feedback rating:

(28)

Condition: Good
Hardcover Good 0684193701 Used book, in good condition |No supplements | Normal wear to cover and spine | Page markings | Inventory sticker present | Satisfaction guaranteed!

Ships from: Punta Gorda, FL

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
Page 1 of 1
Showing All
Close
Sort by
Sending request ...

More About This Book

Overview

Edgar Allan Poe, whose personal torment so powerfully informed his visionary prose and poetry, is a towering figure in the history of American literature. The archetype of the suffering artist, he lived from one extreme to the other: he knew fame and obscurity, wealth and destitution, and the loss of everything he cherished. His fevered imagination brought him to great heights of creativity and the depths of paranoiac despair. Yet although he produced a relatively small volume of work, he virtually invented the horror and detective genres and his literary legacy endures to this day. Jeffrey Meyers here charts Poe's life in astonishing detail, from its inauspicious beginnings through the mysterious events of his last weeks. He explores Poe's pathological need to ruin everything he strived for - in journalism, friendship and marriage. He also reveals Poe as a man of infinite paradox: a Virginia gentleman and the son of itinerant actors, the heir to a great fortune and a disinherited outcast, a university man who had failed to graduate, a soldier bought out of the army, a husband with an unapproachable child-bride, a brilliant editor and low-salaried hack, a world-renowned but impoverished author, a temperate man and uncontrollable alcoholic, a materialist who yearned for a final union with God. As he turns from the life to the works, Meyers combines psychological insight with critical acumen. He analyzes the neglected stories "The Man That Was Used Up," "The Man of the Crowd" and "The Premature Burial," and shows how even his most bizarre tales, "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Black Cat," are grounded in Poe's life experiences. Finally, through lively anecdote, Meyers gives Poe's literary legacy its due, covering his three distinct reputations - in America, England and France - and his powerful influence on modern writers from Nietzsche to Nabokov. Told brilliantly by Jeffrey Meyers, the story
Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Meyers ( Joseph Conrad ) focuses on the ways the works of poet and short story writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) influenced many other great writers, including Hawthorne, Fitzgerald, Nabokov and Baudelaire. Hailed in France as the inventor of the modern detective and psychological novel and of symbolist poetry, he is remembered in his own country chiefly for his macabre tales (``The Pit and the Pendulum,'' ``The Fall of the House of Usher'') and his poem ``The Raven.'' Meyers documents Poe's short and unhappy life, effectively describing his chaotic childhood (he was raised by a foster father who would later disown him) and his tragic adult life (he struggled to write while suffering from alcoholism, poverty and the death of his young wife Virginia in 1847 from consumption). Meyers's sympathetic and readable treatment highlights Poe's considerable stylistic achievements. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Sept.)
Kirkus Reviews
Fast upon the heels of Kenneth Silverman and his splendid Edgar A. Poe (1991), Meyers (Joseph Conrad, 1991, etc.) fashions an even greater success with the same material. The strength of Meyers's approach is that it focuses on Poe's life and character, and examines his writings in historical, rather than literary, terms. This isn't a book of criticism, or even a critical biography—and, as such, it's free of the theoretical constructions so often imposed by academics upon their subjects. Poe, Meyers emphasizes, was a mess of complications and perversity—a brilliant crank, a genteel necrophile, a plagiarist and hack who stole from his inferiors and starved while his editors grew fat—and Meyers is able to show the depth of his insanity and genius by means of a clear and straightforward narrative of events and personalities too poignant to support much interpretation. Poe's own correspondence is drawn on to supply a vivid portrait of his brutal domestic life—the constant uprootings, the continual pleas for aid, the excruciation of his wife's slow death—and the endless (and frequently absurd) controversies that Poe carried on in print are excerpted at length. The testimonial accounts of Poe given by many of his contemporaries are remarkable for their concurrences, and constitute some of the best material in this very rich work. The notes are extensive and helpful. Vivid and haunting: a great success.
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780684193700
  • Publisher: Cengage Gale
  • Publication date: 9/1/1992
  • Pages: 384

Table of Contents

Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
1 An Inauspicious Birth, 1809-1811 1
2 Childhood: John Allan and England, 1812-1825 8
3 The University of Virginia, 1826 21
4 The Army and West Point, 1827-1831 32
5 Baltimore: Maria Clemm and Early Stories, 1831-1834 56
6 Richmond: The Southern Literary Messenger and Marriage, 1835-1836 70
7 Philadelphia: Burton's Magazine, 1837-1840 92
8 Philadelphia: Graham's Magazine, 1841-1843 121
9 A Lion in New York, 1844-1845 150
10 New York: The Broadway Journal, 1845 169
11 Fordham and Literary Quarrels, 1846-1847 190
12 Fordham: Eureka and Hopeless Love, 1848 213
13 Drink, Delirium and Death, 1849 241
14 Reputation 258
15 Influence 280
Notes 305
Bibliography 335
Index 338
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
( 0 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
    If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
    Why is this product inappropriate?
    Comments (optional)