Edgar Allan Poe's 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 Poes 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, Poes 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.
