A new selection for the NEA’s Big Read program A compact selection of Poe’s greatest stories and poems, chosen by the National Endowment for the Arts for their Big Read program. This selection of eleven stories and seven poems contains such famously chilling masterpieces of the storyteller’s art as “The Tell-tale Heart,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and such unforgettable poems as “The Raven,” “The Bells,” and “Annabel Lee.” Poe is widely credited with pioneering the detective story, represented here by “The Purloined Letter,” “The Mystery of Marie Roget,” and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Also included is his essay “The Philosophy of Composition,” in which he lays out his theory of how good writers write, describing how he constructed “The Raven” as an example.

This annotated and illustrated edition of the entire stories and poems of Edgar Allan Poe brings the author to life as never before. Photographs of Poe's many loves and the literary figures he satired in his stories are included.

An illustrated collection of stories and poems by the noted horror writer, including "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Pit and the Pendulum," and "The Raven."

About Author The works of American author Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1849) include many poems, short stories, and one novel. His fiction spans multiple genres, including horror fiction, adventure, science fiction, and detective fiction, a genre he is credited with inventing. These works are generally considered part of the Dark romanticism movement, a literary reaction to Transcendentalism. Poe's writing reflects his literary theories: he disagreed with didacticism[3] and allegory. Meaning in literature, he said in his criticism, should be an undercurrent just beneath the surface; works whose meanings are too obvious cease to be art. Poe pursued originality in his works, and disliked proverbs.He often included elements of popular pseudosciences such as phrenology and physiognomy.His most recurring themes deal with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the reanimation of the dead, and mourning. Though known as a masterly practitioner of Gothic fiction, Poe did not invent the genre; he was following a long-standing popular tradition.Poe's literary career began in 1827 with the release of 50 copies of Tamerlane and Other Poems credited only to "a Bostonian", a collection of early poems that received virtually no attention. In December 1829, Poe released Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems in Baltimore before delving into short stories for the first time with "Metzengerstein" in 1832.His most successful and most widely read prose during his lifetime was "The Gold-Bug", which earned him a $100 prize, the most money he received for a single work. One of his most important works, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", was published in 1841 and is today considered the first modern detective story.Poe called it a "tale of ratiocination".Poe became a household name with the publication of "The Raven" in 1845, though it was not a financial success. The publishing industry at the time was a difficult career choice and much of Poe's work was written using themes specifically catered for mass market tastes.

A collection of twenty-four illustrated stories by the nineteenth-century American writer best known for his tales of horror.

EDGAR ALLAN POE was a famous American writer, poet, literary critic, and editor. He penned more than 70 different short stories across multiple genres: psychological, mystical, gothic, romantic, detective, satirical. He also wrote poetry, of which "The Raven" with its haunting rhythm, is unsurpassed. His writing style falls into the category of American romanticism. Poe was one of the first American writers predominately publish short stories. He is one of the creators of the detective fiction genre in literature. His work also marked the beginning of the science fiction genre. Contents: The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Gold-Bug, The Black Cat, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death, The Cask of Amontillado, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, Hop-Frog, Ligeia Morella, The Oval Portret, The Raven Al Aaraaf, Annabel Lee, The Bells, The City in the Sea, The Conqueror Worm, A Dream Within a Dream, Eldorado, Eulalie, The Haunted Palace, To Helen, Lenore, Tamerlane, Ulalume

This new selection of 24 tales places the most popular--"The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", and "The Purloined Letter"--alongside less well-known travel narratives, metaphysical essays, and political satires.

Edgar Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most original writers in the history of American letters, a genius who was tragically misunderstood during his lifetime, but eventually became an enormous influence on modern French literature and on the work of writers such as Dostoevsky, Conan Doyle and Jules Verne.