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The Annotated Poe
Edgar Allan Poe is perhaps America’s most famous writer. Adapted many times to the stage and screen and an inspiration to countless illustrators, graphic novelists, and musicians, his tales and poems remain a singular presence in popular culture. (His most famous poem inspired the name of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.) And then there is the matter of Poe’s literary influence. “How many things come out of Poe?” Jorge Luis Borges once asked. And yet Poe remains misunderstood, his works easily confused with the legend of a troubled genius. Now, in this annotated edition of selected tales and poems, Kevin J. Hayes debunks the Poe myth, enables a larger appreciation of Poe’s career and varied achievements, and investigates his weird afterlives.
With color illustrations and photographs throughout, The Annotated Poe contains in-depth notes placed conveniently alongside the tales and poems to elucidate Poe’s sources, obscure words and passages, and literary, biographical, and historical allusions. Like Poe’s own marginalia, Hayes’s marginal notes accommodate “multitudinous opinion”: he explains his own views and interpretations as well as those of other writers and critics, including Poe himself. In his Foreword, William Giraldi provides a spirited introduction to the writer who produced such indelible masterpieces as “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” and “The Black Cat.”
The Annotated Poe offers much for both the professional and the general reader―but it will be especially prized by those who think of themselves as Poe aficionados.
With color illustrations and photographs throughout, The Annotated Poe contains in-depth notes placed conveniently alongside the tales and poems to elucidate Poe’s sources, obscure words and passages, and literary, biographical, and historical allusions. Like Poe’s own marginalia, Hayes’s marginal notes accommodate “multitudinous opinion”: he explains his own views and interpretations as well as those of other writers and critics, including Poe himself. In his Foreword, William Giraldi provides a spirited introduction to the writer who produced such indelible masterpieces as “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” and “The Black Cat.”
The Annotated Poe offers much for both the professional and the general reader―but it will be especially prized by those who think of themselves as Poe aficionados.
440 pages, Hardcover
First published October 26, 2015
14 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Allan Poe
9,798 books28.3k followersThe name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 5, 2022
Like most American grade schoolers, I was introduced to Poe through class readings of “The Raven” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”, both of which I enjoyed immensely despite finding the syntax a bit obscure. Returning to these and other of his works as an adult, one comprehends them better, and wields a broader understanding of the cultural and psychological themes that inform them. The prose, while more palatable, remains not altogether pleasant, and most publishers today would have sent Poe’s manuscripts back for a heavy round of editing. But the stories themselves, the ghastly images they implant in our minds, the dark hearts and tortured consciences—or, worse still, the seemingly unperturbable consciences—we are invited to inhabit and thereby to make our own, render Poe’s work enduringly memorable.
A prominent theme in Poe’s tales—“The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Black Cat” among them—is the refusal of certain things the narrator thought long dead and buried to—well—stay dead and buried. Secrets are suppressed; enemies are dismembered and entombed, and a part of their buriers is buried with them; but they live on as grotesque and unassimilable specters. Unsurprisingly, these stories have been of perennial interest to psychologists.
I also hadn’t been aware of the fact that with “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” Poe essentially invented the modern detective story wholesale, complete with its most familiar tropes. The relationship between the savant C. Auguste Dupin and the narrator almost perfectly anticipates that between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Reading the story, written before the word “detective” was even coined, one wouldn’t suspect that it was the very first of its kind.
A prominent theme in Poe’s tales—“The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Black Cat” among them—is the refusal of certain things the narrator thought long dead and buried to—well—stay dead and buried. Secrets are suppressed; enemies are dismembered and entombed, and a part of their buriers is buried with them; but they live on as grotesque and unassimilable specters. Unsurprisingly, these stories have been of perennial interest to psychologists.
I also hadn’t been aware of the fact that with “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” Poe essentially invented the modern detective story wholesale, complete with its most familiar tropes. The relationship between the savant C. Auguste Dupin and the narrator almost perfectly anticipates that between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Reading the story, written before the word “detective” was even coined, one wouldn’t suspect that it was the very first of its kind.
November 23, 2015
I have long been a fan of Poe. This annotated version is worth getting even if you are not a fan. The annotations include not just what influenced the author but the influence Poe has had going forward. This includes movies that either directly portray Poe's work or build upon it -- as with "El Dorado" or "Blade Runner." It also includes the Harry Potter series which the annotations do not include, but it is pretty obvious with "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar." Read it and tell me if you disagree. Poe would have considered it his highest honor that others have taken his own ideas and built upon them, for that is precisely how he built his own world. Poe believed that no one could ever have writer's block since innovation in literature was simply the combining of what had already been written into new and unique combinations.
September 23, 2016
With a beautiful selection of paintings, photos, and sketches, this book provides the reader with background, as well as insight to the many literary devices and allusions used in Poe's writing. I was amazed at the number of things I learned from the annotations! Highly worthwhile read!
December 13, 2018
This collection took me from "meh" about Poe to a humbled follower of the genius. That said, he will never be my favorite author (gore, the mysterious, and suspense are just not things I seek out). But I can appreciate the man's ingenuity, his process, his background, and how these things come together in great stories (tales, sorry) and poems.
This volume is worth picking up for the forward and introduction alone. The annotations are exactly what a modern reader needs to get a full picture of the writer's intentions.
Highly recommended.
This volume is worth picking up for the forward and introduction alone. The annotations are exactly what a modern reader needs to get a full picture of the writer's intentions.
Highly recommended.
April 7, 2016
Elegant lay-out ... lavishly illustrated ... perceptively annotated ... a perfect treasure of the collected writings of Edgar Allan Poe ... from the atmospheric "The Fall of the House of Usher" to the horrific "The Cask of Amontillado", the tales are all here, in all their glory ...
November 28, 2015
A great selection of stories, with helpful annotation and beautiful original illustrations
October 24, 2018
The Annotated Poe is an annotated anthology of the works of Edgar Allen Poe as collected and annotated by Kevin J. Hayes with a forward from William Giraldi.
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole, and he was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story.
Poe's best-known fiction works are Gothic, a genre that he followed to appease the public taste. His recurring themes deal with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the reanimation of the dead, and mourning. Many of his works are generally considered part of the dark romanticism genre, a literary reaction to transcendentalism, which Poe strongly disliked.
The Annotated Poe contains many color illustrations and photographs and contains in-depth notes placed conveniently alongside the tales and poems to elucidate Poe's sources, obscure words and passages, literary, biographical, and historical allusions. Like Poe's own marginalia, Hayes's marginal notes accommodate the multitudinous opinion, and explain his own views and interpretations as well as those of other writers and critics, including Poe himself.
All in all, The Annotated Poe is a wonderful anthology Edgar Allen Poe's work with annotated notes and appendixes that expands and explains his works tremendously.
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole, and he was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story.
Poe's best-known fiction works are Gothic, a genre that he followed to appease the public taste. His recurring themes deal with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the reanimation of the dead, and mourning. Many of his works are generally considered part of the dark romanticism genre, a literary reaction to transcendentalism, which Poe strongly disliked.
The Annotated Poe contains many color illustrations and photographs and contains in-depth notes placed conveniently alongside the tales and poems to elucidate Poe's sources, obscure words and passages, literary, biographical, and historical allusions. Like Poe's own marginalia, Hayes's marginal notes accommodate the multitudinous opinion, and explain his own views and interpretations as well as those of other writers and critics, including Poe himself.
All in all, The Annotated Poe is a wonderful anthology Edgar Allen Poe's work with annotated notes and appendixes that expands and explains his works tremendously.
November 9, 2020
Poe is Poe, and as far as I'm concerned the man is the greatest writer who ever lived. So this review will confine itself to the specifics of this annotated edition rather than the proven quality of the stories it contains.
It features a selection of Poe's work rather than his complete output, but the choice of inclusions is pretty good, perhaps a few more of the poems would have been nice. The book itself is a satisfactorily sturdy, large format hardback. It's profusely illustrated, and these illustrations are one of the high points of the volume, they really lift it.
As for the annotations, yes, they did add to the reading experience, explaining many of Poe's allusions and filling in much background material, explaining what was occurring in Poe's life or in the general social context at the time each tale was written. This brings to light many clever little details that would otherwise have been lost on a modern reader. Some of the notes explaining how various critics have interpreted Poe's 'meaning' are much less than convincing and speak more of critics with a personal hot topic to promote, but it's still interesting to see how others have sometimes used his words to push their own agendas.
If you're a Poe reader, this should be on your shelf. If you're not a Poe reader, you should be bloody ashamed of yourself.
It features a selection of Poe's work rather than his complete output, but the choice of inclusions is pretty good, perhaps a few more of the poems would have been nice. The book itself is a satisfactorily sturdy, large format hardback. It's profusely illustrated, and these illustrations are one of the high points of the volume, they really lift it.
As for the annotations, yes, they did add to the reading experience, explaining many of Poe's allusions and filling in much background material, explaining what was occurring in Poe's life or in the general social context at the time each tale was written. This brings to light many clever little details that would otherwise have been lost on a modern reader. Some of the notes explaining how various critics have interpreted Poe's 'meaning' are much less than convincing and speak more of critics with a personal hot topic to promote, but it's still interesting to see how others have sometimes used his words to push their own agendas.
If you're a Poe reader, this should be on your shelf. If you're not a Poe reader, you should be bloody ashamed of yourself.
December 2, 2018
As ghastly as Poe's verse and prose are, his imagination is world-class. This edition, which selects some of his most important and most of his best stories, as well as a handful of poems, provides ample annotations explaining the gestation, publication and intertextual references of Poe's works. My favourite stories are still 'Manuscript Found in a Bottle', 'The Cask of Amontillado', 'The Black Cat', and 'The Tell-Tale Heart' (favourite poem is 'The Raven', of course), but there are stories that are given 'lift' by the notes, such as 'Metzengerstein' and 'Berenice' (rhymes with 'very spicy'). This collection also includes some of his non-horror works, such as the three famous detective stories and such curiosities as 'The Philosophy of Furniture', a brief indictment of American taste and culture.
You could not really ask for more, although you might ask for slightly less, given that not all of the margin notes are necessary.
You could not really ask for more, although you might ask for slightly less, given that not all of the margin notes are necessary.
October 21, 2022
EA Poe has been my favorite author since I was a child. As a teacher of American literature, I did everything I could to include him during our study of the Dark Romantics. Oh, how I wish I had had this book when I was still teaching! Kevin Hayes has outdone himself with his intense and earnest research. One will learn not only the background of each story, but also visit the time periods, places, and people (real or imagined) that had an influence on Poe and added to his creations. For people who want to truly delve into the psyche of some of the most read and/or valued stories and poems of Poe, this is the book for you.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews