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stronlibrarianvibes's review against another edition
5.0
If you are a fan of Devil in the White City, I think you'll really like this book. It has a very similar narrative structure (oscillating between the two stories). But it's also very different, in that it tells the story of how an actual murder mystery impacted the creation of the mystery genre. Not as sensationalistic in detail as other novels, Stashower really understands and explains how Poe worked and reworked the Mary Rogers murder.
eraofkara's review against another edition
2.0
Well, I learned that Poe was a dick. So there's that.
eling's review against another edition
1.0
ugh. painfully slow. I struggled to finish this and then ended up pissed that I spent the time.
vodaas's review against another edition
3.0
The Beautiful Cigar Girl was an enlightening read of sorts. I have picked up non-fiction in the past but mostly novelized memoirs. The writing was engaging enough, but required a sort of attention that needed all of my brain span to follow along. The language was lyrical in its' own right.
I found Poe's life to be a fascinating if not sad one. He was destined to prove his genius only after death, and to live a life of destitution in the interim. His idea of ratiocination was a fascinating one, and his influence over fellow writers regarding detective stories after his death is one to marvel over.
If I were to take any sort of issue with this book it was that it had too much going on at times, especially when it put a lot of the focus on the media and newspaper moguls of that era. The story of course needed some of this information, as it played a large role in Poe's life and that of the death of Mary Rogers, but as a reader, I felt that some of the information did not lend any real weight to to the story overall.
While I was hesitant to dive headlong into this novel, I am surprised that I found it fascinating in its own right and saddened that Mary Rogers had such a short life with no resolution to be gained surrounding her death.
In closing, I will leave this small quote pulled from the book. It is just a snippet of Poe's brilliance and I admire the use of the written language in such an eloquent way:
"A crow thieves; a fox cheats; a weasel outwits; a man diddles,” Poe observed. “To diddle is his destiny…Diddling, rightly considered, is a compound, of which the ingredients are minuteness, interest, perseverance, ingenuity, audacity, nonchalance, originality, impertinence, and grin.”
I found Poe's life to be a fascinating if not sad one. He was destined to prove his genius only after death, and to live a life of destitution in the interim. His idea of ratiocination was a fascinating one, and his influence over fellow writers regarding detective stories after his death is one to marvel over.
If I were to take any sort of issue with this book it was that it had too much going on at times, especially when it put a lot of the focus on the media and newspaper moguls of that era. The story of course needed some of this information, as it played a large role in Poe's life and that of the death of Mary Rogers, but as a reader, I felt that some of the information did not lend any real weight to to the story overall.
While I was hesitant to dive headlong into this novel, I am surprised that I found it fascinating in its own right and saddened that Mary Rogers had such a short life with no resolution to be gained surrounding her death.
In closing, I will leave this small quote pulled from the book. It is just a snippet of Poe's brilliance and I admire the use of the written language in such an eloquent way:
"A crow thieves; a fox cheats; a weasel outwits; a man diddles,” Poe observed. “To diddle is his destiny…Diddling, rightly considered, is a compound, of which the ingredients are minuteness, interest, perseverance, ingenuity, audacity, nonchalance, originality, impertinence, and grin.”
lawyergobblesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
The Beautiful Cigar Girl, written by mystery novelist and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle biographer Daniel Stashower, fulfills the need for quality true crime if you're willing to tolerate some biography with your mysterious disappearance. The biography in question follows Edgar Allen Poe during an unsuccessful and drink-sodden period of his life. He bounces from a foster home to a short stint at the University of Virginia to naval service to staff positions at literary magazines, finding security for short periods and then blowing his luck. Eventually, he lands in New York, and around the same time a gal about town, Mary Rogers, disappears. The city is captivated, and so is Poe, who endeavors to investigate the case and spin his theories into detective fiction.
Stashower knows how to keep us turning pages even when we're with Poe, when the story could conceivably drag next to the excitement and suspense of the central mystery. He explores the confluence of Poe and Mary Rogers' disappearance with appropriately placed tangents - on contemporary detective fiction, on the culture and figures of 19th-century New York City and its surrounding riverbanks (the New Jersey side of the Hudson sounded pretty nice back then), and on what exactly a "cigar girl" is. The parallel stories (which remind me of the style of Erik Larson's last two books) weave together beautifully, the humanity of a young genius and the sensationalism of a high-profile disappearance a fortunate confluence and the perfect subject for a book.
http://www.whatbookshouldireadtoday.com/2011/03/every-year-i-throw-fit-because-best.html
Stashower knows how to keep us turning pages even when we're with Poe, when the story could conceivably drag next to the excitement and suspense of the central mystery. He explores the confluence of Poe and Mary Rogers' disappearance with appropriately placed tangents - on contemporary detective fiction, on the culture and figures of 19th-century New York City and its surrounding riverbanks (the New Jersey side of the Hudson sounded pretty nice back then), and on what exactly a "cigar girl" is. The parallel stories (which remind me of the style of Erik Larson's last two books) weave together beautifully, the humanity of a young genius and the sensationalism of a high-profile disappearance a fortunate confluence and the perfect subject for a book.
http://www.whatbookshouldireadtoday.com/2011/03/every-year-i-throw-fit-because-best.html