Edgar Allan Poe: Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), was an American poet, short-story writer, and literary critic. Poe's stormy personal life and his haunting poems and stories combined to make him one of the most famous figures in American literary history. Poe's influence on literature has been immense. His short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841) is considered the first modern detective story. His reviews of American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne mark him as the first …showed first 75 words of 1686 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1686 total…of Usher" (1839). The story is a portrait of a suffering artist isolated from the tides of life. Subtle psychological meanings can also be found in "Ligeia," "The Cask of Amontillado," and "William Wilson." In all three tales, bizarre and frightening details and events conceal Poe's subtle probing of the warfare he observed in the human soul. Bibliography Frank, Frederick S., and Magistrale, Anthony.The Poe Encyclopedia. Greenwood, 1997.--- Silverman,Kenneth.Edgar A. Poe. 1991. Reprint. HarperPerennial, 1992