The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings: Poems, Tales, Essays, and Reviews (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Edgar Allan Poe (Author), David Galloway (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: October 7, 1986

Poe, unquestioned master of the 'Grotesque and Arabesque," is fully represented here, but the volume also includes generous selections from his poetry and critical writings. Together they amount to a portrait of a complex personality, that of a conscious aesthete, the most exotic of American writers, who had at the same time engaged in an astonishing variety of interests. Nor are the 'Grotesque' tales the simple manipulations of terror that they seem; David Galloway's introduction reveals their author as a profoundly serious writer, whose investigations of extreme states of consciousness have a particular relevance for our time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Poe's work as a whole is a series of haunting improvisations on themes from the macabre that are hard to categorise, dazzlingly original and posthumously influential on an extraordinary range of writers from Baudelaire and RL Stevenson to Yeats, Wilde and Borges."
— Observer

"His work continues to enthral. His greatest tales (The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum) radiate a dark humour and mockery that strike an oddly modern note."
— Sunday Times

"His reputation as a master of the grotesque and macabre has veiled the real cause of his fame: an astonishing mastery of language and literary technique which made Arthur Ransome, himself no mean story technician and a considerable literary critic, liken his stories to rare coloured goblets or fantastic metalwork."
— Independent --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Although dissipated in his youth and plagued by mental instability towards the end of his life, Boston-born Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) had a variety of occupations including service in the US army and magazine editor, as well as his remarkable literary output. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (October 7, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140432914
• ISBN-13: 978-0140432916
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #994,407 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensible edition!! A fine collection., December 10, 2004

By 

AU Student (DC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings: Poems, Tales, Essays, and Reviews (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

I've found this particular edition of Poe's (albiet incomplete) collected works to be the best and most accurate blend possible of his short fiction, poetry, and most important prose. The annotations and background information are also extremely helpful unlike some works that do not translate the Latin, for example. MOST IMPORTANTLY I've found this work to contain the most perfect editions of his poetry, as opposed to other collected works I've owned that have unusual deviances, such as "monody compels" (this ed.) vs "melody compels" of another edition. This has indeed become a faithful companion and my particular copy has become well-worn! I would suggest obtaining as a supplement a seperate edition of Poe's complete short stories and possibly also an edition of his collected prose, although this volume contains his perhaps most important work "The American Drama" anyway. Cheers, hope this helps!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creepy fictional masterpieces of horror, poems and selected essays by the original Baltimore Raven superstar Edgar Allan Poe, July 7, 2009

By 

C. M Mills "Michael Mills" (Knoxville Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings: Poems, Tales, Essays, and Reviews (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Long before Alfred Hitchcock, Bram Stoker or Arthur Conan Doyle there was Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849). Born to a Boston actress; married to 13 year old Virginia Clemm and tormented by the demons of the soul this American original is the most popular worldwide American author.
In this excellent Penguin collection the editors have collected his best short stories, poems and essays in a valuable volume.
Among the masterpieces are:
The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined Letter featuring the pre-Sherlock Holmes detective skills of Auguste Dupin.
The Fall of the House of Usher in which a gothic mansion mirrors the madness, incest and horror within the soul of its demented owner.
The Pit and the Pendulum an unforgettable tale of the Spanish Inquisition where the suspense is almost tactile in its intensity.
The Masque of the Red Death in which Death is the unexpected visitor at a masqued ball.
The Gold Bug shows Poe's mathematical mind at work as a buried treasure is discovered.
In addition to other tales we find here such great poems as "The Raven"; "The Bells" and "Ligea".
A sample of Poe's literary essays are included. One essays deals with his review of the American theatre; another reviews Hawthorne's "Twice-Told Tales" and the best of the lot details the creative process the poet used to create his 108 line masterpiece "The Raven."
This is a fine edition which could be used in the classroom or for pleasure reading. Enjoy the outre world and lush writing of Edgar Allan Poe!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The TRUE king of Horror!, July 12, 2007

By 

Summer Paulus "FL" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings: Poems, Tales, Essays, and Reviews (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

I got this book as a gift for my Birth Day. I loved Edgar Allan Poe, his writings, poetry, essays, everything. I first heard The Raven in my [...] class, than heard The Cask of Amontillado in my [...] class. I than fully fell-in-love with this Poet! I also went out and picked up Young Edgar Allan Poe, and read it, exploring his life from a small child in beautiful detail to his death. If you haven't read any of Edgar Allan Poe's writings yet, please do so. Now...
At first when you read some of his writings, you get washed away by the old-fashioned literature, to the insanity of his mind (which isn't so, mind you). I had to re-read The Masque of the Red Death twice before I fully comprehended just what happened. I relieved in the story: The Cask of Amontillado and The Pit and the Pendulum, struggled through The Bells, read my heart out in The Raven, raced through The Tell-Tale Heart and read curiously at The Man of the Crowd. This is truly the king of horror and insanity at it's best! Drop Stephen King for just a little while and read Poe, you won't regret it!