Grasping for the Wind

Gaiman on Poe

Here's an essay by Neil Gaiman (modern master of the macabre) on Edgar Allen Poe (father of the mystery and many a macabre story).

While he lived he was America's finest writer, a poet and a craftsman whose work made him very little money, even as his poems, such as "The Raven", were widely quoted, adored, parodied and reviled, while writers he envied, such as Longfellow, were far more successful, commercially. Still, Poe, for all his short life and unfulfilled potential, remains read today, his finest stories as successful, as readable, as contemporary as anyone could desire. Fashions in dead authors come and go, but Poe is, I would wager, beyond fashion.

Posted by John on September 10, 2007 08:26 AM | Posted to Fantasy | Literature and Language | Mystery | Nonfiction
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