Edgar Allan Poe in Context

Edgar Allan Poe mastered a variety of literary forms over the course of his brief and turbulent career. As a storyteller, Poe defied convention by creating Gothic tales of mystery, horror, and suspense that remain widely popular today. This collection demonstrates how Poe's experience of early nineteenth-century American life fueled his iconoclasm and shaped his literary legacy. Rather than provide critical explications of his writings, each essay explores one aspect of Poe's immediate environment, using pertinent writings - verse, fiction, reviews, and essays - to suit. Examining his geographical, social, and literary contexts, as well as those created by the publishing industry and advances in science and technology, the essays paint an unprecedented portrait of Poe's life and times. Written for a wide audience, the collection will offer scholars and students of American literature, historians, and general readers new insight into Poe's rich and complex work.

Author: Kevin J. Hayes
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 10/29/2012
Pages: 430
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.55lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.00w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9781107009974

About the Author
Hayes, Kevin J.: - Kevin J. Hayes is Professor of English at the University of Central Oklahoma. Editor of The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe, he has published several books on American literature, history and culture, including Poe and the Printed Word (2000) and The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson (2008).