James M Hutchisson

Poe

Edgar Allan Poe is recognised as the creator of many early examples of themes in modern fiction. My impression of James M Hutchisson's new biography Poe is that it is skillfully written and has something of interest for all readers. I have to admit that I hadn't read much of Poe's work before reading this biography, but I felt that this was not a problem as Hutchisson provides a sufficient description of Poe's stories within the text. More knowledgable readers will benefit from the new critical insights into Poe's work and how it relates to his life.

Poe died when he was just 40 years old, and this book looks in some detail at the last ten years of his life, when his fame was beginning to spread, but when he also had many problems - his wife was dying from tuberculosis and it is likely that Poe himself suffered from mental illness. Hutchisson has written this work as a supporter of Poe, and tried to get away from the portrayal of a self-pitying drunkard. On the other hand there is no attempt to hide the faults in Poe's character, and one sees that although Poe may have had a lot of bad luck, he also had a tendency to throw away that good luck which came his way.

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Hardcover 290 pages
ISBN: 1578067219
Salesrank: 1185683
Weight:1.4 lbs

Published: 2005 University Press of Mississippi

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Hardcover 290 pages
ISBN: 1578067219
Salesrank: 1560906
Weight:1.4 lbs

Published: 2005 University Press of Mississippi

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Hardcover 290 pages
ISBN: 1578067219
Salesrank: 497991
Weight:1.4 lbs

Published: 2005 University Press of Mississippi

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Book Description
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American original---a luminous literary theorist, an erratic genius, and an analyst of human obsession and compulsion par excellence. The scope of his literary achievements and the dramatic character of Poe's life have drawn readers and critics to him in droves. And yet, upon his death, one obituary penned by a literary enemy in the New York Daily Tribune cascaded into a lasting stain on Poe's character, leaving a historic misunderstanding. To many, Poe is remembered as a difficult, self-pitying, troubled drunkard often incapable of caring for himself. Poe reclaims the Baltimore and Virginia writer's reputation and power, retracing Poe's life and career. Biographer and critic James Hutchisson captures the boisterous worlds of literary New York and Philadelphia in the 1800s to understand why Poe wrote the way he did and why his achievement was so important to American literature. The biography presents a critical overview of Poe's major works and his main themes, techniques, and imaginative preoccupations. This portrait of the writer emphasizes Poe's southern identity; his existence as a workaday journalist in the burgeoning magazine era; his authority as a literary critic and cultural arbiter; his courtly demeanor and sense of social propriety; his patronage of women writers; his adaptation of art forms as diverse as the so-called "gutter press" and the haunting rhythms of African American spirituals; his borrowing of imagery from such popular social movements as temperance and freemasonry; and his far-reaching, posthumous influence on the sister arts and on modern writers from Nietzsche to Nabokov.

Book Description

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American original---a luminous literary theorist, an erratic genius, and an analyst of human obsession and compulsion par excellence. The scope of his literary achievements and the dramatic character of Poe's life have drawn readers and critics to him in droves.

And yet, upon his death, one obituary penned by a literary enemy in the New York Daily Tribune cascaded into a lasting stain on Poe's character, leaving a historic misunderstanding. To many, Poe is remembered as a difficult, self-pitying, troubled drunkard often incapable of caring for himself.

Poe reclaims the Baltimore and Virginia writer's reputation and power, retracing Poe's life and career. Biographer and critic James Hutchisson captures the boisterous worlds of literary New York and Philadelphia in the 1800s to understand why Poe wrote the way he did and why his achievement was so important to American literature. The biography presents a critical overview of Poe's major works and his main themes, techniques, and imaginative preoccupations.

This portrait of the writer emphasizes Poe's southern identity; his existence as a workaday journalist in the burgeoning magazine era; his authority as a literary critic and cultural arbiter; his courtly demeanor and sense of social propriety; his patronage of women writers; his adaptation of art forms as diverse as the so-called "gutter press" and the haunting rhythms of African American spirituals; his borrowing of imagery from such popular social movements as temperance and freemasonry; and his far-reaching, posthumous influence on the sister arts and on modern writers from Nietzsche to Nabokov.

"POE" ***
I've just finished reading James M. Hutchisson's biography entitled "POE." Naturally, there were numerous exciting tidbits and facts about Poe that Hutchisson gives to the reader. Many of these things were truly interesting to me, especially for someone who is not as familiar with his personal life as many students of literature probably are. After all, his relationship and marriage to his 13 year old cousin, Virginia would raise the eye brow of any reader! Hutchisson has a way of performing an in-depth psychological autospy of Poe using his sharp literary scalpel. Hutchisson uses many references of historical records, newspaper clippings, and other writings to dissect this ...this enigma, known as Edgar Alan Poe. The author's knowledge of the subject is evident throughout the book. His passion seeps through the pages like spilled ink onto blotter paper. However, at times the author seems to make statements regarding Poe which are more of a "professional-guess" rather than ..."something truly known." Never before had I realized what an egotistical narcissist Poe truly was! Despite his gifted writing abilities he was apparently a "human leach" who never tired of sucking the financial life-blood from friends, family, and anyone else he could attach himself to. Apparently he saw himself as the "poster-child" of a Southern Aristocrat. Poe obviously, would have made a superb logo for "Kentucky Fried Chicken" rather than Col. Sanders. The author does a superb job of tracking the movements of Poe from city to city, publisher to publisher, and relationship to relationship. However, not withstanding his research ability, I personally found the book slow and cumbersome which ultimately left me...bored. I enjoy Poe's poetry, and classical short stories, but as for this particular biography..."Never More."

"POE" ***

I've just finished reading James M. Hutchisson's biography entitled "POE."
Naturally, there were numerous exciting tidbits and facts about Poe that Hutchisson gives to the reader. Many of these things were truly interesting to me, especially for someone who is not as familiar with his personal life as many students of literature probably are. After all, his relationship and marriage to his 13 year old cousin, Virginia would raise the eye brow of any reader!

Hutchisson has a way of performing an in-depth psychological autospy of Poe using his sharp literary scalpel. Hutchisson uses many references of historical records, newspaper clippings, and other writings to dissect this ...this enigma, known as Edgar Alan Poe.

The author's knowledge of the subject is evident throughout the book. His passion seeps through the pages like spilled ink onto blotter paper. However, at times the author seems to make statements regarding Poe which are more of a "professional-guess" rather than ..."something truly known."

Never before had I realized what an egotistical narcissist Poe truly was! Despite his gifted writing abilities he was apparently a "human leach" who never tired of sucking the financial life-blood from friends, family, and anyone else he could attach himself to. Apparently he saw himself as the "poster-child" of a Southern Aristocrat. Poe obviously, would have made a superb logo for "Kentucky Fried Chicken" rather than Col. Sanders.

The author does a superb job of tracking the movements of Poe from city to city, publisher to publisher, and relationship to relationship. However, not withstanding his research ability, I personally found the book slow and cumbersome which ultimately left me...bored.

I enjoy Poe's poetry, and classical short stories, but as for this particular biography..."Never More."

A Good Depressing Book *****
I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book. It is a very depressing book to say the least, but then so was the life of Edgar Allan Poe. Poe had a difficult relationship with his step-father, John Allan, who never legally adopted him. Although several of Poe's stories are well known he made little money from them. The Gold Bug sold for $10.00. Poe's main income came from reviews of books and lectures. This, however, was hardly sufficient for him to make a living as he tried, in vain, to get assistance from John Allan. Poe's biological father deserted his wife and three young children, and the stress of trying to earn a living while caring for the three children claimed her life to pneumonia and probably tuberculosis. From his father Poe inherited a predisposition to alcohol which was to antagonize the author during his entire adult life. His poem, The Raven, was very well received and Poe felt it was the best poem ever written. Hopscotching from city to city searching for the elusive happiness he seeked Poe spent his life scrounging for money to support himself and his sickly wife Eliza who died in January of 1847. Her death devastated Poe, and he died in October of 1849 in Baltimore, Maryland, at the age of 40 from what may have been a tumor on the brain. You will not find happiness in this book.

A Good Depressing Book *****

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book. It is a very depressing book to say the least, but then so was the life of Edgar Allan Poe. Poe had a difficult relationship with his step-father, John Allan, who never legally adopted him. Although several of Poe's stories are well known he made little money from them. The Gold Bug sold for $10.00. Poe's main income came from reviews of books and lectures. This, however, was hardly sufficient for him to make a living as he tried, in vain, to get assistance from John Allan. Poe's biological father deserted his wife and three young children, and the stress of trying to earn a living while caring for the three children claimed her life to pneumonia and probably tuberculosis. From his father Poe inherited a predisposition to alcohol which was to antagonize the author during his entire adult life. His poem, The Raven, was very well received and Poe felt it was the best poem ever written. Hopscotching from city to city searching for the elusive happiness he seeked Poe spent his life scrounging for money to support himself and his sickly wife Eliza who died in January of 1847. Her death devastated Poe, and he died in October of 1849 in Baltimore, Maryland, at the age of 40 from what may have been a tumor on the brain. You will not find happiness in this book.

New & Exciting Facts About Poe's Writings. ***
This new biography was published by the University Press of Mississippi, and reveals as never before Poe's Southern gentility, and his "vast influence on literature and letters." Back in 1960, when I was sick and couldn't eat for a month, I was "read to" and the most memorable was "Ligeia" by Poe. I was newly married and impressionable and discovered the most beautiful (physically) woman in the world. In 1999, I found a poster of a gypsy at a "clutter" sale near the Coluseium which I purchased (jewed down the price) and named Ligeia. Whe was not as ethical as she was attractive, as she took over Rowena's lovely dead body in Poe's story, even her blue eyes. "Poe would at times profess little faith in the progress of the human race or in the perfectability of man" His fate was to endure the hardships in the wrong era. My "Confederate Spy" fair photo prompted someone to tell me that I had lived at the wrong time. He'd fit into today's society and be a big star. Poe made "originality" as his mantra. He was ghost writer for a geology textbook, THE CONCHOLOGIST'S FIRST BOOK, for the British professor and lecturer, Thomas Wyatt. He accused Longfellow (my favorite poet: "And the night shall be filled with music..."), of plagiarism. Most of Poe's characters led "non-sexual" lives. "Today's humans join together in sex in the attempt to recapture their original unity." He sold his finest story, "Ligeia," for ten dollars to a Baltimore magazine. His wife Eliza was his first cousin. His mother, Elizabeth, had been an actress. He was born on January 19, 1809. John Allan adopted him to a higher standard of living, and he was educated at the University of Virginia and West Point. He lived in Richmond, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York City, but died destitute in Baltimore on October 7, 1849. His drinking and writing genius are along the lines of James Agee. His best known, 'The Raven," (Nevermore) was published on January 29, 1845. James M. Hutchisson teaches American lit and Southern studies at the Citadel. He has previously written DUBOSE HEYWARD: A CHARLESTON GENTLEMAN AND THE WORLD OF 'PORKY AND BESS.'

New & Exciting Facts About Poe's Writings. ***

This new biography was published by the University Press of Mississippi, and reveals as never before Poe's Southern gentility, and his "vast influence on literature and letters." Back in 1960, when I was sick and couldn't eat for a month, I was "read to" and the most memorable was "Ligeia" by Poe. I was newly married and impressionable and discovered the most beautiful (physically) woman in the world. In 1999, I found a poster of a gypsy at a "clutter" sale near the Coluseium which I purchased (jewed down the price) and named Ligeia. Whe was not as ethical as she was attractive, as she took over Rowena's lovely dead body in Poe's story, even her blue eyes.

"Poe would at times profess little faith in the progress of the human race or in the perfectability of man" His fate was to endure the hardships in the wrong era. My "Confederate Spy" fair photo prompted someone to tell me that I had lived at the wrong time. He'd fit into today's society and be a big star.

Poe made "originality" as his mantra. He was ghost writer for a geology textbook, THE CONCHOLOGIST'S FIRST BOOK, for the British professor and lecturer, Thomas Wyatt. He accused Longfellow (my favorite poet: "And the night shall be filled with music..."), of plagiarism. Most of Poe's characters led "non-sexual" lives. "Today's humans join together in sex in the attempt to recapture their original unity." He sold his finest story, "Ligeia," for ten dollars to a Baltimore magazine.

His wife Eliza was his first cousin. His mother, Elizabeth, had been an actress. He was born on January 19, 1809. John Allan adopted him to a higher standard of living, and he was educated at the University of Virginia and West Point. He lived in Richmond, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York City, but died destitute in Baltimore on October 7, 1849. His drinking and writing genius are along the lines of James Agee. His best known, 'The Raven," (Nevermore) was published on January 29, 1845.

James M. Hutchisson teaches American lit and Southern studies at the Citadel. He has previously written DUBOSE HEYWARD: A CHARLESTON GENTLEMAN AND THE WORLD OF 'PORKY AND BESS.'