Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) was an American poet, short-story writer and critic who joined Gothic terror to psychological pressure and analytical detection. The Murders in the Rue Morgue introduces C. Auguste Dupin, whose close observation turns an apparently impossible crime into a problem of reasoning. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket moves in another direction, using voyage, mutiny and polar uncertainty to create an adventure that grows increasingly uncanny. The Works of Edgar Allan Poe and The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe offer broad collections rather than single narratives, so they are most useful after one focused story or poem has established his voice. Rue Morgue reveals the controlled, logical Poe; Pym exposes his attraction to unstable borders and unresolved endings.