2009 marks the bicentennial of Edgar Allan Poe,
arguably the most famed and influential writer in
American history. Not only does his work entirely
limn the culture, but he also created no fewer
than two genres of popular fiction mystery and
modern horror almost singlngle-handedly.
Virtually anyone in the U.S. can recite his
poetry (a few lines here and there, at least).
His personal life and ambitions inform the
clichés of the starving writer in his garret and
that of the mad genius. And it's nigh impossible
for someone to graduate from an American high school without having read him.
Poe was also a player of hoaxes, a plagiarist,
had a substance abuse problem, and couldn't keep
a roof over his head. Poe was a proponent of
slavery, the worst sort of would-be social
climber, and married a 13-year-old girl in his
cousin Virginia Clemm. None of this information
is new, of course these fun facts are probably
the aanswers to a fill-in-the-blank quiz given
each year in some sixth-grade classroom in Ohio.
The problem is that Poe has been so completely
taught that he is very rarely read with the eyes of a reader.
<http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article01060902.aspx>Link
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Posted By johannes to
<http://www.monochrom.at/english/2009/01/poe-at-200.htm>monochrom
at 1/28/2009 04:40:00 PM