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cemoses's review against another edition
3.0
I would have given this book four stars but after this book I read an anthology of Edgar Allan Poe's work. This book included some biographical information on Poe.
Edgar Allan Poe was an orphan and raised in a foster family. Collin's book fails to mention that Poe had foster siblings and that his foster father remarried(his foster family never officially adopted him). I feel these details are critical to understanding Edgar Allan Poe. In addition, I felt that Collins did not come up with much new material on the life of Edgar Allan Poe.
However, Paul Collins' book is a "literary" biography. I felt Collins critiques of Poe's work was excellent. I did not realize how influential Edgar Allen Poe was as a writer. Thanks to Collins's book, I could see the influence Poe had on such European authors as Jules Verne, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and most notably Sir Arthur Cannon Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Thanks to Paul Collins' book, I did see how Edgar Allen Poe invented the mystery story and came up with the idea of a detective who was the forerunner and inspiration for Sherlock Holmes.(In my opinion, Edgar Allan Poe is a very hard writer for moderns to read and is mainly significant for his ideas that influenced other writers). It was also interesting to find out that even in his own time people made fun of his poetry; there are not many poets who claim Poe was his/her inspiration. Also Poe wrote a lot of book reviews which were very critical of the book and made him some enemies among other writers.
In short, I found Paul Collins biography of Edgar Allan Poe readable but not very original. What makes this book distinguished is where Collins describes the influence Edgar Allan Poe had on other writers.
Edgar Allan Poe was an orphan and raised in a foster family. Collin's book fails to mention that Poe had foster siblings and that his foster father remarried(his foster family never officially adopted him). I feel these details are critical to understanding Edgar Allan Poe. In addition, I felt that Collins did not come up with much new material on the life of Edgar Allan Poe.
However, Paul Collins' book is a "literary" biography. I felt Collins critiques of Poe's work was excellent. I did not realize how influential Edgar Allen Poe was as a writer. Thanks to Collins's book, I could see the influence Poe had on such European authors as Jules Verne, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and most notably Sir Arthur Cannon Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Thanks to Paul Collins' book, I did see how Edgar Allen Poe invented the mystery story and came up with the idea of a detective who was the forerunner and inspiration for Sherlock Holmes.(In my opinion, Edgar Allan Poe is a very hard writer for moderns to read and is mainly significant for his ideas that influenced other writers). It was also interesting to find out that even in his own time people made fun of his poetry; there are not many poets who claim Poe was his/her inspiration. Also Poe wrote a lot of book reviews which were very critical of the book and made him some enemies among other writers.
In short, I found Paul Collins biography of Edgar Allan Poe readable but not very original. What makes this book distinguished is where Collins describes the influence Edgar Allan Poe had on other writers.
apochemu's review against another edition
3.0
I had a hard time rating this book and still can't decide if it was more the author or Poe himself I didn't like. It was an interesting, seemingly unbiased look into Poe's life. I didn't really know anything about Poe before so this book fulfilled that curiosity. I wasn't very impressed by him so this short book seemed like enough for me. There were some holes that made the story seem choppy at times. It was mostly straight forward and to the point, but sometimes a little wordy. Poe just seemed like someone who wasted all his talent. He was a raging alcoholic and socially inept. I'd like to know more about the kind of person his wife was and what she saw in him. He did have some good qualities that the author pointed out along the way though, and he did have some successful works so obviously he did something right. Maybe if I had read any of his stuff I'd be more understanding, idk.
bsmorris's review against another edition
5.0
Informative and easy to read
This was a brief and easy to read biography, well paced and with a good amount of detail. Quotes from friends and from Poe's letters help make the biography lively.
This was a brief and easy to read biography, well paced and with a good amount of detail. Quotes from friends and from Poe's letters help make the biography lively.
malus23's review against another edition
3.0
A short overview of Poe's life. Not ground breaking, but adequate.
garthranzz's review against another edition
5.0
Definitely one of the shortest, quickest but most fulfilling biographies of Poe I’ve ever read. If you don’t want to get into a ton of detail and the supposed symbolism behind every piece of Poe’s writing, this is the book for you. Great start to finish with a ton of follow up reading listed (some of which now sit on my TBR). My first five star read of 2018!
#Poe #EdgarAllanPoe #EAPoe #EAP
#Poe #EdgarAllanPoe #EAPoe #EAP
jasonfurman's review against another edition
4.0
A short, straightforward biography of Edgar Allan Poe that goes from birth to death and provides some brief literary criticism/literary context for his major stories, poems and novel. I listened to it on Audible and most of his life and his context in American publishing and periodicals of the time was particularly interesting. Paul Collins was most enthusiastic about Poe as the inventor of the detective story, almost treating everything else as sui generis dead ends.
meekorouse's review against another edition
2.0
a good overview of a struggling writer's attempts at publishing..