The Pit and the Pendulum: The Essential Poe

Description

For the 200th anniversary of his birth, a collection from the master of heart-stopping horror Edgar Allan Poe is not only the finest, most terrifying writer of Gothic tales ever to have lived, he also wrote extraordinary poems and, with 'The Murders on the Rue Morgue', invented the detective story, paving the way for Sherlock Holmes. In this new collection, Poe's genius its full breadth. In 'The Pit and the Pendulum' and other stories of horror - including terrifying classics like 'The Tell-Tale Heart' and 'The Black Cat' - Poe writes of the torments of ingenious, malevolent persecutors and of a mind's own sicking, madness, while in the mournful 'The Raven' and other poems, his writing is beautiful, elegiac and filled with dread. Selected and introduced by Peter Ackroyd (author of London- The Biography and Poe- A Life Cut Short), with a cover design by the artist Harland Miller (who has previously curated an exhibition of contemporary artists' responses to Poe), The Pit and the Pendulum is a collection of works of a dark and brilliant genius.

Although dissipated in his youth and plagued by mental instability towards the end of his life, Boston-born Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) had a variety of occupations including service in the US army and magazine editor, as well as his remarkable literary output. Peter Ackroyd is a well known writer and historian. He has been the literary editor of The Spectator and chief book reviewer for the The Times, as well as writing several highly acclaimed books including a biography of Dickens and London: The Biography. He resides in London and his most recent highly acclaimed work is Thames: Sacred River. Harland Miller is a both a writer and an artist, practising both roles over a peripatetic career in both Europe and America. In 2001 Miller produced a series of paintings based on the dust jackets of Penguin books. Miller was the Writer in Residence at the ICA for 2002 and over the course of his residence he programmed a number of events drawing from his experience in literature and fine art, which included a season devoted to the ongoing influence and legacy of Edgar Allen Poe. He is the author of Slow down Arthur, Stick to Thirty and First I was Afraid, I was Petrified.