<i>Nevermore: A Photobiography of Edgar Allan Poe</i> (review)
2009; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 62; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.0.0873
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Literature, Film, and Journalism Analysis
ResumoReviewed by: Nevermore: A Photobiography of Edgar Allan Poe Deborah Stevenson Lange, Karen E. Nevermore: A Photobiography of Edgar Allan Poe. National Geographic, 200964p illus. with photographs ISBN 978-1-4263-0398-2$19.95 R Gr. 5-9 Poor Poe: his birthday bicentennial seems to have been buried beneath a drove of Darwins and a load of Lincolns. Fortunately, Lange's entry in National Geographic's engaging photobiography series gives the historic writer his chance at the anniversary limelight. The book compactly covers Poe's dramatic life from his early orphaning and his tempestuous relationship with his foster father to his growing writing career and his tempestuous relationship with his fellow writers, along the way describing his deep attachment to his young wife and his attempts to find emotional shelter with other women following her death. The author gives full acknowledgment of Poe's bouts of self-torment and alcoholism, but she also makes clear that he had his sunny and amiable days as well, and he seems all the more mysterious and glamorous as a result of the even-handed treatment. Since we're talking a mid-nineteenth century figure, photographs are a little thin on the ground, and they're supplemented with relevant views of other people and places; the smoky blue tones of the reproductions obscure aging images further, but there are several dramatic portraits, sure to engage readers, of Poe gazing out at the viewer with his piercing eyes. An afterword briefly describes Poe's influence on literature and culture; end matter includes a chronology, endnotes, lists of resources from print to web to historic sites, and an index. [End Page 368] Copyright © 2009 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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