Azraeil & Fudgie: A Short Story Page 5

“Annabel Lee,” “The Bells,” “The Black Cat,” “[The Bloodhounds],” “The Cask of Amontillado,” “The Conqueror Worm,” “A Descent into the Maelstrom,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Gold-Bug,” “The Haunted Palace,” “Lenore,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” “MS. Found in a Bottle,” “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Oblong Box,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Premature Burial,” “The Purloined Letter,” “[The Rats of Park Theatre],” “The Raven,” “Some Words with a Mummy,” “The Swiss Bell-Ringers,” “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “Thou Art the Man.” The classic illustrations are by Gustave Dore and Harry Clarke, with a great introduction by Andrew Barger.

  Andrew Barger opens his hefty book that includes all of the prose and poetry of Edgar Allan Poe with an introduction ‘Demystifying Poe’, an essay so well written and informative that it sets the tenor for the important collections of his book EDGAR ALLAN POE ANNOTATED & ILLUSTRATED ENTIRE STORIES & POEMS: ‘Edgar Allan Poe is arguably our most important original and brilliant author of American letters and most misunderstood. His combination of industriousness, minuteness for detail, originality, and respect for his craft are unparalleled.’ Barger then proceeds to offer all of the written works of Poe (many of these will be discoveries to the casual Poe reader), offering annotations to clarify the time and setting and influences on each work. This is an ambitious work and one that immediately becomes the scholar’s gold standard for research on this major writer of mystery and thrills.

  If for no other reason than to have a solid selection of the works of Poe on the shelf, this beautifully designed and handsomely printed book will serve that intent. But once the reader thumbs through this book, pausing to re-read favorites such as ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’, ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’, ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’, and ‘The Raven’, there are many little known gems of short stories, articles, essays, and poems in addition to the stories that are less familiar to the larger audience to discover.

  Barger adds ‘guidance’ to his method of presenting these works by such devices as listing all of the poems under the subheadings of ‘Women in Edgar Allan Poe’s Life’, ‘Miscellaneous Poetry both Before and After Age 25’, ‘Autobiographical’, and ‘Men in Edgar Allen Poe’s Life.’ These may seem like minor adjustments to the collections, but in Barger’s hands the divisions add meaning and context to the works.

  In addition to all of the written works of Poe, this handsome book contains photographs and many of the famous illustrations for his works - especially those of Harry Clarke and Gustave Dore. The fine art of these two men is also honored with annotations adding to their importance to Poe’s popularity as a writer. This is simply a splendid book, handsomely written and produced, and a fine tribute to the literature of Poe - and to the scholarship of Andrew Barger! Highly Recommended.

  AMAZON TOP TEN REVIEWER

  Leo Tolstoy’s 20 Greatest Short Stories

  Annotated

  Anna Karenina and War and Peace revealed Leo Tolstoy as one of the greatest writers in modern history. Few, however, have read his wonderful short stories. Now, in one collection, are the greatest short stories of Tolstoy, which give a snapshot of Russia and its people in the late 19th century. Annotations are included of difficult Russian terms. Read these short classics today.

  Now for the first time, twenty of his best short stories have been compiled and edited into a single volume by Andrew Barger. Enhanced for the reader with informative annotations. The stories comprising this outstanding collection include: A Candle, After the Dance, Albert, Alyosha the Pot, An Old Acquaintance, Does a Man Need Much Land?, If You Neglect the Fire You Don’t Put It Out, Khodinka: An Incident of the Coronation of Nicholas II, Lucerne, Memoirs of a Lunatic, My Dream, Recollections of a Scorer, The Empty Drum, The Long Exile, The Posthumous Papers of the Hermit Fedor Kusmich, The Young Tsar, There Are No Guilty People, Three Deaths, Two Old Men, and What Men Live By. A truly impressive anthology, “Leo Tolstoy’s 20 Greatest Short Stories” is especially recommended for acquisition by community and academic libraries, as well as the supplemental reading lists for students of Russian Literature.

  MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

  Orion

  An Epic English Poem

  Orion is an epic English poem of love and war. It deserves its place next to Beowulf in English literature. Its overtones consist of aesthetically pleasing writing with a Shakespearian tinge, all wrapped in classical Greek mythology. It contains a fine introduction by Andrew Barger, a foreword by the author, Richard Horne, and a fantastic review by Edgar Allan Poe. This is all combined with illustrations and annotations for the first time. As Poe stated, “It is our deliberate opinion that, in all that regards the loftiest and holiest attributes of the true Poetry, ‘Orion’ has never been excelled. Indeed we feel strongly inclined to say that it has never been equaled.” While Charlotte Bronte said, “there are passages I shall recur to again and yet again - passages instinct both with power and beauty.” Written in 1843, Orion is the greatest epic poem you have never read.

  The present edition, which not only reprints the complete text of the poem itself, but also provides a brief introduction, a biographical sketch, illustrations, explanatory footnotes, Horne’s Preface to the 1854 Australian edition, and Poe’s review, in an attractively prepared volume edited by Andrew Barger, constitutes a determined effort to restore the poem to something approaching its former glory.

  Professor Paul Schlicke

  University of Aberdeen

  Copyrights Trademarks and Ownership: © Copyright Bottletree Books LLC. All rights reserved. Andrew Barger is part owner of Bottletree Books LLC. Digital images of the front cover may be resized and shown as “fair use” for purposes of selling and promoting the book. This work and all names, characters, places and incidents are fictional. Any resemblance to actual events or locals or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. BOTTLETREE is a registered trademark of Bottletree Books LLC. The Bottletree logo, and related trade dress, including all cover art designs are trademarks of Bottletree Books, LLC.

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