The classic poems and spine-tingling stories of a Gothic American master collected in one volume Of all the American masters, Edgar Allan Poe staked out perhaps the most unique and vivid reputation, as a master of the macabre. Even today, in the age of horror movies and high-tech haunted houses, Poe is the first choice of entertainment for many who want a spine-chilling thrill. Born in Boston in 1809, and dead at the age of 40, Poe wrote across several fields during his life, noted for his poetry and short stories as well as his criticism. The best of each of these is collected here, including the classic poem “The Raven,” and timeless stories like “The Tell-Tale Heart.” In his introduction to this volume, G. R. Thompson argues that Poe was a great satirist and comedic craftsman, as well as a formidable Gothic writer. “All of Poe’s fiction,” Thompson writes, “and the poems as well, can be seen as one coherent piece—as the work of one of the greatest ironists of world literature.” The Great Short Works of Edgar Allen Poe includes these classics: The Raven Annabel Lee The Murders in the Rue Morgue The Masque of the Red Death The Pit and the Pendulum The Tell-Tale Heart The Purloined Letter The Imp of the Perverse

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic? includes a glossary and reader's notes to help the modern reader contend with Poe's allusions and complicated vocabulary.Edgar Allan Poe'his name conjures up thoughts of hearts beating long after their owners are dead, of disease and plague amid wealth, of love that extends beyond the grave, and of black ravens who utter only one word. The richness of Poe's writing, however, includes much more than horror, loss, and death.Alive with hypnotic sounds and mesmerizing rhythms, his poetry captures both the splendor and devastation of love, life, and death. His stories teem with irony and black humor, in addition to plot twists and surprise endings. Living by their own rules and charged with passion, Poe's characters are instantly recognizable'even though we may be appalled by their actions, we understand their motivations.The thirty-three selections in The Best of Poe highlight his unique qualities. Discover for yourself the mysterious allure and genius of Edgar Allan Poe, who remains one of America's most popular and important authors, even more than 150 years after his death.

A new selection for the NEA’s Big Read program A compact selection of Poe’s greatest stories and poems, chosen by the National Endowment for the Arts for their Big Read program. This selection of eleven stories and seven poems contains such famously chilling masterpieces of the storyteller’s art as “The Tell-tale Heart,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and such unforgettable poems as “The Raven,” “The Bells,” and “Annabel Lee.” Poe is widely credited with pioneering the detective story, represented here by “The Purloined Letter,” “The Mystery of Marie Roget,” and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Also included is his essay “The Philosophy of Composition,” in which he lays out his theory of how good writers write, describing how he constructed “The Raven” as an example.

This Top Five Classics illustrated edition of the Essential Tales & Poems of Edgar Allan Poe features 75 of Poe’s greatest short stories and poems. 33 Tales, including: • The Tell-Tale Heart • The Murders in the Rue Morgue • The Fall of the House of Usher • The Masque of the Red Death • The Pit and the Pendulum • The Purloined Letter • The Black Cat • Hop-Frog • The Cask of Amontillado 42 Poems, including: • The Raven • The Conqueror Worm • The Bells • Tamerlane • Al Aaraaf • Lenore • Eldorado • Annabel Lee Also featuring: • More than 85 large illustrations from Gustave Doré, Harry Clarke, and Edmund Dulac • Annotated translations of passages in French, Latin, Greek or other foreign languages, along with Poe’s own notes • Alphabetical, linked title index and detailed author biography Whether you are new to Edgar Allan Poe or a student of his work, this illustrated/annotated edition is a must-have for your ebook library. (For a comprehensive collection of 157 Poe works, see Top Five Classics’ Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems.)

About Author The works of American author Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1849) include many poems, short stories, and one novel. His fiction spans multiple genres, including horror fiction, adventure, science fiction, and detective fiction, a genre he is credited with inventing. These works are generally considered part of the Dark romanticism movement, a literary reaction to Transcendentalism. Poe's writing reflects his literary theories: he disagreed with didacticism[3] and allegory. Meaning in literature, he said in his criticism, should be an undercurrent just beneath the surface; works whose meanings are too obvious cease to be art. Poe pursued originality in his works, and disliked proverbs.He often included elements of popular pseudosciences such as phrenology and physiognomy.His most recurring themes deal with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the reanimation of the dead, and mourning. Though known as a masterly practitioner of Gothic fiction, Poe did not invent the genre; he was following a long-standing popular tradition.Poe's literary career began in 1827 with the release of 50 copies of Tamerlane and Other Poems credited only to "a Bostonian", a collection of early poems that received virtually no attention. In December 1829, Poe released Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems in Baltimore before delving into short stories for the first time with "Metzengerstein" in 1832.His most successful and most widely read prose during his lifetime was "The Gold-Bug", which earned him a $100 prize, the most money he received for a single work. One of his most important works, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", was published in 1841 and is today considered the first modern detective story.Poe called it a "tale of ratiocination".Poe became a household name with the publication of "The Raven" in 1845, though it was not a financial success. The publishing industry at the time was a difficult career choice and much of Poe's work was written using themes specifically catered for mass market tastes.

»A Tale of the Ragged Mountains« is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, originally published in 1844. EDGAR ALLAN POE was born in Boston in 1809. After brief stints in academia and the military, he began working as a literary critic and author. He made his debut with the novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket in 1838, but it was in his short stories that Poe's peculiar style truly flourished. He died in Baltimore in 1849.