The Annotated Poe

Edgar Allan Poe is perhaps America€s most famous writer. Adapted many times to the stage and screen and an inspiration to countless illustrators, graphic novelists, and musicians, his tales and poems remain a singular presence in popular culture. (His most famous poem inspired the name of the NFL€s Baltimore Ravens.) And then there is the matter of Poe€s literary influence. €œHow many things come out of Poe?€ Jorge Luis Borges once asked. And yet Poe remains misunderstood, his works easily confused with the legend of a troubled genius. Now, in this annotated edition of selected tales and poems, Kevin J. Hayes debunks the Poe myth, enables a larger appreciation of Poe€s career and varied achievements, and investigates his weird afterlives.

With color illustrations and photographs throughout, The Annotated Poe contains in-depth notes placed conveniently alongside the tales and poems to elucidate Poe€s sources, obscure words and passages, and literary, biographical, and historical allusions. Like Poe€s own marginalia, Hayes€s marginal notes accommodate €œmultitudinous opinion€: he explains his own views and interpretations as well as those of other writers and critics, including Poe himself. In his Foreword, William Giraldi provides a spirited introduction to the writer who produced such indelible masterpieces as €œThe Fall of the House of Usher,€ €œThe Murders in the Rue Morgue,€ and €œThe Black Cat.€

The Annotated Poe offers much for both the professional and the general readerۥbut it will be especially prized by those who think of themselves as Poe aficionados.