Edgar Allan Poe: A Mystery (Impact Biography)

Rating:
Summary: GREAT & EASY READER!
Review: This book is great for any teenager writing a biography speech on Edgar Allan Poe! I highly recommend it!

Rating:
Summary: Good Information, But Too Biased
Review: This was my first introduction to the life of Edgar Allan Poe. The book was an easy read and satisfactorally highlighted the high (and low) points of his life. The author did a good job of using many direct quotes from primary sources and other biographies as well as from various letters. However, she seemed bent on painting Poe as a victim in every circumstance. While I do not believe everything negative I've heard about him, he was clearly a disturbed man - going from woman to woman to woman...looking for a wife, not being able to hold a job for more than a couple months, having volatile relationships with MANY people - these are not the symptoms of a mentally healthy man. The author tried to make it seem that everyone was out to get Poe and that he had little responsibility for his life's problems. While I do not doubt his genius, I see him as quite responsible for the misery he lived.