Withan unconventional new perspective, Andersonidentifies Edgar Allan Poe's texts as ajourney and explores the ways Poe both encounters and transcends the realm of the material. Beginning with Poe s earliest short stories through his last fragment of imaginative prose, this book shows the path that Poe traveled as he came to understand how to transform "rudimentary" into "ultimate" life. Anderson skillfully argues that Poe s response to the existential predicament of life lies at the heart of his achievement.

Autorentext
DOUGLAS ANDERSON is Sterling-Goodman Professor of English at the University of Georgia.

Inhalt
Introduction: Cosmos Problems of Disposal A Pneumatics of Mind The Gravity of Things The Kingdom of Inorganization The Infected World at Large Conclusion: Pictures of Ascent