The Portable Poe: Tales & Poems [MM0049]

1959 MMPB Viking Portable Library printing of the 1945 original, in amazingly nice clean condition. Edgar Allen Poe, in Philip Van Doren Stern's words, was: "Charlatan, plagiarist, pathological liar, whimpering child, egomaniac, braggart, and irresponsible drunkard, he did what few American writers had ever tried to do before; he tapped the rich reservoir of the subconscious mind to set free the terrible images which had seldom been allowed to stalk the printed page." This one-volume Poe is unique in that it includes all these strange aspects of his genius. The Portable Poe is a one-volume edition that includes Edgar Allan Poe's best and most well-known tales and poems, along with representative articles, criticism, letters, and a special selection of his opinions. It is considered one of the most comprehensive collections of Poe's work, making it an excellent choice for readers who want to explore his writings in a single volume.

From Amazon/GooodReads reviews: "This was good. Gave a very good look into the extremely complex and interesting mind of Mr. Poe and I managed to enjoy most of the short stories, poems, letters, essays, etc. Very dark yet very beautiful."; "I loved the array of writings found here. Such a plethora of writings allow the reader to more intimately know Poe the man, rather than just Poe the author or poet. Learning how he thought about and approached his own writing was also quite interesting. We don't read works like this anymore and that alone made this a refreshing experience. While Poe's short stories are impressive and helped shape the emerging American literary scene, I feel as though his true genius is found in his poetry."; "Poe is my favorite poet and probably my second favorite short story writer. I love all of his work even if most of this book was a re-read for me."; "Poe is a master of the short story form, he forever elevated gothic fiction to new heights, his sense of the macabre is perhaps unmatched, his psychological acuity is on another level, etc. etc. There's so many reasons why so many of these stories are classics and taught in schools all around the world. He also writes in such a way that it inspires me to try my own hand at it . . we'll see :)"