Edgar Allan Poe Book summary
Edgar Allan Poe is widely regarded as one of the greatest American authors, and for good reason. He was a pioneer in a new kind of writing that inspired other great authors like Fyodor Dostoevsky and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He was a middle child born on the 19th of January 1809 in Boston, and his parents were both actors. Edgar’s parents soon separated after his birth and Edgar stayed with his mother Elizabeth. His parents both passed away within a month, and it is believed that Edgar was forced to remain with the corpse of his mother and his younger sister for a whole day before it was learned that his mother had passed away. Edgar was then separated from his siblings, as he was taken in by a wealthy matron, who had taken a liking to both him and his mother.
He was then sent to England for his education and later enrolled in the University of Virginia. However, he only ever completed the first year of his course, as he was forced to leave due to his problems with drinking, and a significant gambling debt that he had incurred in trying to support himself. He joined the army in 1827 and rose through the ranks until he was admitted into West Point as an officer candidate in 1830. However, he was dismissed from the academy when he deliberately broke the rules after his foster parent had refused to allow him to quit the academy. He began to write full time after he left the army, and although he had written two volumes of poems he had yet to make a mark on the literary world.
Poe’s adult life was plagued with financial instability, drinking problems, and depression. He worked in several magazines both as a contributor and as an editor. His literary reviews and criticisms were received quite well. Poe is credited to be the pioneer of genres like science fiction, and detective fiction for works like Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall. Some of the other famous works by the author include The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, The Purloined Letter, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Cask of Amontillado.
