Edgar Allan Poe: Selected Poetry and Tales brilliantly represents the best scholarly material on Poe, delivered in an accessible, conversational tone that will appeal to students. The contents run the gamut from Poe's notorious and imaginative horror tales to his literary criticism. Moreover, James M. Hutchisson has included examples of Poe's science fiction stories, detective tales, and the oft-overlooked satires. Instructors and students alike will benefit from this edition's introduction, timeline, footnotes, and appendices, which help to place Poe within his literary and social timeframe,...

Most frequently regarded as a writer of the supernatural, Poe was actually among the most versatile of American authors, writing social satire, comic hoaxes, mystery stories, science fiction, prose poems, literary criticism and theory, and even a play. As a journalist and editor, Poe was closely in touch with the social, political, and cultural trends of nineteenth-century America. Recent scholarship has linked Poe's imaginative writings to the historical realities of nineteenth-century America, including to science and technology, wars and politics, the cult of death and bereavement, and,...