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Apr 05, 2011

Evan rated it:

In 1841, a 20-year-old boarding house worker, Mary Rogers -- a delicate beauty formerly renowed throughout New York City for doing nothing more than selling cigars at a tobacco seller's booth that catered to all classes of men enamored of her charms (including some of the city's most powerful leaders, businessmen and artists) -- disappeared from home and was found days later floating in the Hudson River, battered beyond recognition with parts of her own skirt stuck in her neck from strangulation More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Nov 08, 2011

Eva rated it:

A very easy read, finished during a day of travel with multiple connecting flights. Would have given it 3.5 stars if I could have, or perhaps 3.75....it's not quite 4 star material, in my eyes, primarily because it fails to deliver on many of its promises, i.e., showing how Poe amazingly fixed his story at the last moment to account for real life events, thus saving his literary skin at the last minute. The author does explain how Poe accomplished that, but it just isn't the ingeniously creative More...

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Nov 02, 2011

John rated it:

Beyond the basic storyline of a beautiful girl mysteriously murdered in the 1840s, "The Beautiful Cigar Girl" offered a fascinating insight and history not only into Edgar Allen Poe--about whom I knew much too little--but about the creation of the real mystery novel. That Poe was an inspiration to none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose Sherlock Holmes undoubtedly introduced many a reader to the notion of deductive reasoning (termed "ratiocination" by Poe), says plenty More...

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Oct 22, 2011

Ken rated it:

The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Invention of Murder by Daniel Stashower

In late July of 1841 Mary Rogers, a beautiful and charismatic clerk in a Manhattan tobacco shop was found drowned and murdered over the river in New Jersey. The book is about how authorities attempted to solve the crime (they didn't), how the plethora of newspapers put their spin on the murder and what it might mean to the citizens, and how the career of Edgar Allan Poe was affected More...

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Aug 29, 2010

Babs rated it:

I liked this book a lot. First of all, I gained a sincere appreciation for Edgar Allan Poe as a writer. I had always been a bit put off by the subject matter of his stories, so I hadn't had a chance to appreciate his skill as a writer and his intelligence as a person. Secondly, I greatly enjoy reading about historical events as they connect to other persons or events that I may not previously have realized. Sort of like a non visual timeline :). I wasn't that impressed with the "mystery More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 02, 2009

Djrmel rated it:

Shashower attempts to make a personal link between Poe and Mary Rogers, but within the first pages he admits there's nothing to back up that idea: they simply lived in NYC at the same time and people Poe knew did shop at the store where Rogers worked. Link aside, he can prove that Poe's sequal to "The Murder in the Rue Morge", "The Murder of Marie Roget", was based on a true crime, because there are documents that prove he was writing his story in an attempt to prove that his More...

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Aug 02, 2009

Chris rated it:

This is a quite enjoyable book about the murder of Mary Rogers and how Poe used the murder to write his short story "Marie Roget". It's an interesting book, not fascinating, but interesting.

Mary Rogers, the cigar of the title, was a woman who was murdered in New York. The story became headlines for the newspapers and the killer was never caught. Poe's short story, featuring Dupin, put forward a theory about the murder. In other words, Poe "ripped' stories from the More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 25, 2009

Susanne rated it:

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 28, 2008

Jonathan rated it:

Being a Poe enthusiast as well as a history and true crime buff, I have found this book fascinating. The author does a good job of telling two stories at the same time - first the story of Poe, his upbringing and his erratic behavior throughout his life and second the story of the beautiful and tragic Mary Rogers (the cigar girl). An interesting look at the police work of the time. Well worth reading.

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jul 28, 2011

JoJo rated it:

This was a pleasant piece of historical writing by a very capable historical researcher and writer. Stashower proved his ability to spin a tale as well as to bring alive a bygone era. Meticulously researched, the book brings alive the spirit of confusion set upon New York during the time of the notorious murder of Mary Rogers, the beautiful cigar girl, fueled by a press looking to out do their competitors and political enemies, even at the expense of the truth.

The depiction of Poe's life was c More...

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May 23, 2010

Cat rated it:

This book was addictive. A very enjoyable interweaving of Edgar Allan Poe's biography and literary accomplishments with the journalistic accounts of a murder that he adapted into fiction. Stashower creates incredible momentum, as he builds the story of Poe's overweening arrogance, imaginative brilliance, and crippling alcoholism while all the time tantalizing his reader with the clues and controversies surrounding the Mary Rogers murder case that captured the imagination of Poe, the newspapers More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 12, 2010

Diana rated it:

A beautiful "cigar girl" that had captured the adoration of many a man in NYC, is found floating in the Hudson, brutally murdered .. .
at the same time, a struggling writer, Edgar A. Poe, sees an opportunity to shadow the murder case with a ficticious detective story.

The last time I read a Poe biography, it was stale and boring, if it wasn't for my lingering buzz from reading "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Pit and the Pendulum" I never would ha More...

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Jul 09, 2011

Jeanne rated it:

In case anyone thinks the tabloidism of today is bad, wait until you read about the "journalism" in New York City in 1830-1840.

Mary Rogers, the beautiful cigar girl who was famous as a great beauty, is the focus of the beginning of the book. Many young men seek her attention. When she ends up dead, the newspapers are in a frenzy speculating upon the mysterious circumstances of her demise. Their goal: Sell more newspapers.

Edgar Allan Poe was a contemporary of t More...

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Nov 02, 2009

Janellyn51 rated it:

I find this really interesting. I find Poe one of the biggest characters in all literary history! I've read the Pale Blue Eye and the Poe Shadow book which incorporate Poe or the story centers around Poe as a character in the novel...and reading this, makes me think that Louis Bayard nailed him pretty good. This is about a real murder in NYC, probably the first murder (actually, the second, I found as I read on)to have been sensationalized by the newspapers. As it happened Poe shopped in the Cig More...

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Apr 07, 2009

Adam rated it:

What it is with titles that make bold claims? (Harold Bloom's "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human" comes to mind). That said, Stashower impresses me as a writer who can make a non-fiction book as suspenseful as any mystery yarn. I learned much about Poe (the book functions as a precise and concise biography on the author), and I can almost guarantee that the biggest Poe fan will pick up a few new facts. There feels like a bit of padding in its pages -- the Mary Rogers case pete More...

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Jun 01, 2011

Lori rated it:

Back in Old New York, the beautiful Mary Rogers was one of our nation's first celebrities to be known strictly for being hot. These days attractive girls seeking their 15 minutes of fame are a dime a dozen. Paris Hilton, the Kardashian sisters...those people on the Hills? What do they do, really? Basically they look good on TV or gossip programs and web sites. People get caught up in their aura and follow their less-than-interesting lives...for about a year. Then we move on to the next man More...

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Mar 02, 2011

Lulu rated it:

The Beautiful Cigar Girl, written by mystery novelist and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle biographer Daniel Stashower, fulfills the need for quality true crime if you're willing to tolerate some biography with your mysterious disappearance. The biography in question follows Edgar Allen Poe during an unsuccessful and drink-sodden period of his life. He bounces from a foster home to a short stint at the University of Virginia to naval service to staff positions at literary magazines, finding security for More...

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Nov 16, 2008

J. rated it:

When I purchased The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Invention of Murder, I was expecting something more along the line of The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl; that is historical fiction — fictional characters set against the backdrop of an historical story and setting.

The Beautiful Cigar Girl is Daniel Stashower’s (Teller of Tales) attempt to recount the story of Mary Rogers, a Manhattan tobacco store clerk whose mutilated corpse was discovered afloat in the More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 12, 2009

Joseph rated it:

It wasn't really that great and it went on a lot of differnt tangants. From the back of the book I thought it was how two different people who didn't know each other crossed paths into each others lives much like Thunderstruck or Devil in the White City, but it wasn't. Unfortunately if you compared the books they paled in my many ways.

The book lack flow and I don't know how Poe ever lived because he seemed like he was drunk all the time. He was described as a pure alcoholic with s More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 02, 2009

Nicole rated it:

The last time anyone saw Mary C. Rogers of New York was Sunday July 25, 1841. To this day the crime remains unsolved. While Stashower makes no attempt to unravel this mystery in The Beautiful Cigar Girl, Edgar Allan Poe believes he is able to do so through his fictional detective C. Auguste Dupin who has already proven himself in The Murders in the Rue Morgue.

This book is, at once, a true crime about the disappearance of Mary Rogers and a biography of Edgar Allan Poe. Frankly, more P More...

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May 22, 2008

Jeremy rated it:

In NYC in 1841, a young woman was brutally murdered. NYC was practically lawless at this time, and the police botched the investigation. The public became obssessed with finding the murderer and that cause became entwined with the culture war of the day: a perceived, raging battle between The Moral and The Ruffian. Edgar Allan Poe was an impovrished alcoholic at the time, struggling to find enough money to feed his wife as she wasted away with TB. He decided to stake his dwindling reputation More...

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Jan 20, 2009

Nancy rated it:

Mary Rogers (the Beautiful Cigar Girl of the title) worked at John Anderson’s Tobacco Emporium in 19th century Manhattan. She was quite famous at the time as well as the main attraction at the store. Mary went out one day and never came home -- as her family began to become distraught at her disappearance, her body was found floating in the Hudson. Newspapers of the time had a field day with the story -- each newspaper (in an era of fierce competition among journals) had its own information, its More...

5 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 10, 2008

Sarah rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Apr 27, 2010

Lori rated it:

What an intriguing book! From the time of Mary Rogers' murder, New York City is captivated by the mystery surrounding her death. Someone else is captivated - Edgar Allan Poe. Struggling to salvage his career, he becomes intrigued by the case, fictionalizing it, and reinventing how crime fiction is written from that point to today.

Daniel Stashower does a terrific job of telling parallel tales of both Poe and Mary Rogers, and unravels the hysteria surrounding the case with care. A grea More...

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Sep 07, 2009

Katie rated it:

This book was a bit slow to get going but around page 100 it picked up. I read this book for my book group but we have yet to meet and discuss it. I definitely think it will lead to a great discussion. I knew little about Poe before this book and I enjoyed learning more about him. I had also never heard of Mary Rogers before so that was also an interesting murder case to learn about. If you enjoy nonfiction then I think you'll definitely enjoy this book as the blending of the two stories is More...

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Oct 17, 2010

Katie rated it:

I hate this subtitle! The invention of murder? Really?

Mostly enjoyed the book, although it was a little stretched for facts/story. The author kept looking for a big shocking storyline that just wasn't there. Two of my biggest reading pet peeves are 1. books that are longer than they need to be and 2. authors who will not let the history be what it was. The Beautiful Cigar Girl is guilty on both counts.

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Feb 24, 2009

Terri rated it:

This book is for anyone interested in crime solving in New York City in the 1830-40s, or Edgar Allen Poe or how newspapers/journals/magazines worked back in this timeframe. A very interesting story of how these elements came together with the murder of a young woman in New York City in that time period.

If you are not interested in any of these topics I do not think you will enjoy this story.

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Jul 02, 2010

Rachel rated it:

Well, the most that I can say for this book is that I made it through to the end. It started well enough—intrigue, sex, murder—but definitely fizzled midway through. Poor editing made it tough to follow the chronology of who was where when and lots of minor "characters" were somewhat randomly introduced. Kinda makes you want to mix up the pieces and see if it turns out better.

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Jun 21, 2010

Connie rated it:

A very engaging account of a famous unsolved murder in NYC with a parallel story of the tormented life of Edgar Allan Poe. (For some reason I thought about the actor Robert Downey Jr. as I read this.) Poe has a role to play through his literary skills in helping find an answer to the "who done it?" I read the book in 2 days as I recovered from a migraine.

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Jan 04, 2010

Bmchales rated it:

The best thing about this book is its title -- intriguing and full of possibilities. It was interesting to learn about E.A. Poe's life, and it certainly helps one understand his work and puts it in a different perspective. As for this book, it was a little disappointing, but still worth a read if you are interested in Poe.

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