Description
Book SynopsisThe Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings is a collection that displays the full force of Edgar Allan Poe''s mastery of both Gothic horror and the short story form. This Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction and notes by David Galloway.
This selection of Poe''s critical writings, short fiction and poetry demonstrates his intense interest in aesthetic issues, and the astonishing power and imagination with which he probed the darkest corners of the human mind. ''The Fall of the House of Usher'' is a slow-burning Gothic horror, describing the final hours of a family tormented by tragedy and the legacy of the past. In ''The Tell-Tale Heart'', a murderer''s insane delusions threaten to betray him, while stories such as ''The Pit and the Pendulum'', ''The Raven'' and ''The Cask of Amontillado'' explore extreme states of decadence, fear and hate.
In his introduction, David Galloway re-examines the myths surrounding Poe''s life and reputation. This edition includes a new chronology and suggestions for further reading.
As well as his remarkable literary output, Boston-born Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) had a variety of occupations - he served in the US army and was a magazine editor. Towards the end of his life, he was plagued by mental instability.
If you enjoyed The Fall of the House of Usher, you might like Horace Walpole''s The Castle of Otranto, also available in Penguin Classics.
''The most original genius that America has produced''
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
''Poe has entered our popular consciousness as no other American writer''
The New York Times Book Review
Table of ContentsThe Fall of the House of Usher and Other WritingsChronology
Introduction
Further Reading
A Note on the Text
Poems
Stanzas
Sonnet - To Science
Al Aaraaf
Romance
To Helen
Israfel
The City and the Sea
The Sleeper
Lenore
The Valley of Unrest
The Raven
Ulalume
For Annie
A Valentine
Annabel Lee
The Bells
Tales
MS. Found in a Bottle
Ligeia
The Man that was Used Up
The Fall of the House of Usher
William Wilson
The Man of the Crowd
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
A Decent into the Maelström
Eleonora
The Oval Portrait
The Masque of the Red Death
The Pit and the Pendulum
The Tell-Tale Heart
The Gold Bug
The Black Cat
The Purloined Letter
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
The Cask of Amontillado
Hop-Frog
Essays and Reviews
Letter to B--
Georgia Scenes
The Drake-Halleck Review (excerpts)
Watkins Tottle
The Philosophy of Furniture
Wyandotté
Music
Time and Space
Twice-Told Tales
The American Drama (excerpts)
Hazlitt
The Philosophy of Composition
Song-Writing
On Imagination
The Veil of the Soul
The Poetic Principle (excerpts)
Notes
