Interview - June 2008Q1: Why did you decide to edit a new compilation of Edgar Allan Poe's entire short stories and poems? This is obviously not the first Poe compilation.
A1: There are two main reasons. First, I was sitting on a pile of Poe research from my historical novel about his life called
Coffee with Poe. Primarily, however, it was out of frustration. All the compilations I came across from Big Publishing simply listed his stories and poems with no background information or explanation. Many of his stories are satires and burlesques of politicians and literary figures of the day, but you don't have a clue from the books on the market. Poe also wrote most of his poems to various women in his life. That much is obvious. Yet a person reading these bland, cookie-cutter Poe compilations has no idea to whom they refer. Why is it that one hundred and fifty years after "The Purloined Letter" was published, the ending is unintelligible unless one is versed in Latin? Why was I unable to find any compilation that translated this text for the reader in a footnote?
Q2: I feel your frustration.
A2: Don't get me started. (Laughs)
Q3: What sets this apart from these cookie-cutter Poe books?
A3: As you probably guessed, the book contains background information in the form of introductory paragraphs for each of the stories and the poems. They set the stage for what was happening in the world when Poe sat down to write. Also provided as part of the background are pictures of the actual people involved in the story or poem. A few political cartoons are included from which I believe Poe got a few of his ideas. It is also very interesting to see pictures of the many women in Poe's life to whom he wrote his poems. Poe has at least three fiancées, perhaps as many as five, and was married once. Poems sent to Poe from these women are also included for the first time that I know of in a Poe compilation. It greatly helps in understanding Poe's relationship with these women and the direction for his own poems. The dates of publication of his poems and stories are critical to understanding their context, so these are also included. Nearly two thousand five hundred footnotes and endnotes are provided throughout. They define everything from people, to foreign words, to antiquated sayings that have fallen out of favor over the past hundred and fifty years.
Q4: It must have taken a while.
A4: Over three years even after I had the research I did on Poe for the
Coffee with Poe novel. I didn't have gray hair or children when I started and now I have lots of them . . . gray hairs that is.
Q5: Now for the juicy stuff. What are your top five Poe stories?
A5: This is tough. He wrote across so many genres and created a few while he was at it. My favorite horror story is "The Fall of the House of Usher." "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is my favorite murder mystery with "Thou Art the Man" being a close second. "Ligeia" is haunting and Poe called it one of his best. Of his adventure stories, "The Gold-Bug" is fascinating to this day. Of Poe's satires and burlesques (there are many great ones), I like "King-Pest" and "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether."
Q6: Top five poems?
A6: This is a little easier than the stories. I like "Ulalume," "The Raven," "The Coliseum," "Annabel Lee," and "The Conqueror Worm" in that order. Poems that tell a story always seem to work the best and Poe takes it to a whole new level.
Q7: If a person wants a different perspective on Poe other than your book, do you have any recommendations?
A7: I like two other books . . . well, they are actually multiple volumes each. The first is titled "Edgar Allan Poe: The Man" by Mary Phillips. It was published in the early 1900s and stands today as the best Poe biography. The second is "Complete Poems" and "Tales and Sketches" by Thomas Mabbott. He was a Harvard professor who spent his career researching Poe. He was able to find a number of Poe writings that were not known before and he produced great research on Poe. My only complaint is that he spends an inordinate amount of time in his books trying to figure out where Poe, one of the most original authors in modern history, got his ideas. Mabbott does not approach Poe from my perspective, which is to focus on the underlying meaning of the stories and real people involved in them. There are few photographs. He also does not include poems written to Poe from his romantic interests.
Q8: In the introduction you talk about Poe as critic and you think it was a mistake on his part.
A8: Sure. Poe was a great critic, perhaps one of the best, but it was not the best career move given his talents. I figured out that if Poe had written just 1/5th of additional fiction as he did critiques, we would have another
forty stories by him. That is sad and amazing to think about. Of course, money comes into play. Poe was paid more for lambasting other authors than for his fiction. His total payment for "The Raven" was between $10 and $15. That is a travesty. So from a purely financial perspective I can't blame Poe for time spent as critic when he was trying to support his family solely off writing at a time when there was no international copyright treatise, which allowed U.S. publishers to print the stories of more popular European authors free of charge. What a tough system (or lack of a system) for Poe. Regardless, it is fun to be able to read Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Twice Told Tales" and then to read what Poe thought of it. He was a big fan of Hawthorne and his critiques helped focus much needed attention toward the little-known author from Salem, Massachusetts.
Q9: Both Poe and Hawthorne wrote of the supernatural. Do you believe in the supernatural?
A9: Now
that's a juicy question. Ghosts and goblins, no. The closest I've ever come to a supernatural event was actually when I was editing this book. I was sitting at the computer doing the background story for "Berenice" when a raven flew against my window. It was the largest raven I have ever seen; large almost like a chicken, and it hit the window so hard that I jumped out of my seat in fear it would shatter over the keyboard and me. After the first hit it backed off in a bit of a daze, fluttered there for a moment staring at me, and then hit the window twice more. It then took off. By that time I was near the door in a cold sweat. I have never seen a raven outside my window since, nor has one ever hit the window apart from that time.
Eerie. I do believe God works in mysterious ways. Too much happens in this world to just pass off as happenstance or luck. A butterfly might flap its wings in Timbuktu and cause a tornado in Texas, but then a lot of good happens in this world that we rarely hear of it in the media. By the way, we need to round up all these butterflies. They're causing too much havoc in this world. These tornado-causing butterflies are truly a danger to mankind. The FDA should put a label on them. (Smiles)
