The Fall Of The House Of Usher And Other Tales

Description

The celebrated master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe brought his nightmare imaginings to life in classic stories told in a signature style. This volume gathers together 14 of Poe's richest and most influential tales, including 'The Pit and the Pendulum', 'The Tell-Tale Heart', which Stephen King called 'the best tale of inside evil ever written' and 'The Fall of the House of Usher'. This volume also includes Poe's pioneering detective stories 'The Purloined Letter' and 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Also included is Poe's only novel, Narrative of A. Gordon Pym.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 49), was born in Boston, USA. His parents were actors but both suffered from tuberculosis and died in 1811. The two-year-old Edgar was taken in by John Allan, a wealthy merchant - hence the middle name. He had a very happy childhood as the only child of a rich family. He did well at school, especially in languages and athletics. In 1926 Edgar went to the University of Virginia. In his first term he did no work, spending his time on wine, women and song! He had a huge row with his step-father and ran away to join the army. A few years later Mrs Allan begged her husband to find him and make up the quarrel. This happened but the two men never managed to have a good relationship again. When his wife died, John Allan remarried and his new wife hated Edgar. So, by 1831 he was out in the world, alone and broke. Edgar was by now writing poetry but with little success. He did find a new family, an aunt and married her fourteen-year-old daughter. They moved from place to place and so Edgar moved from job to job getting the occasional story printed. They were very poor, often cold and close to starvation. His wife was ill and Edgar was almost an alcoholic. When his wife died, Edgar began to court wealthy widows and his writing became more and more tortured. George Bernard Shaw called him, 'the finest of finest of artists'; but he died alone in pain and poverty when he was only forty. Almost his last words were- 'I wish to God someone would blow my damned brains out.' - it is not difficult to see why some of his best-remembered stories are grotesque and macabre.

"Poe was so good at writing stories that exploited the unspoken horrors of his day."-Chuck Palahniuk