A review by ravensandlace
A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak

3.0

Title: The Death and Life of Edgar Allen Poe

Author: Mark Dawidziak

Genre: Biography

Format: hardback library book

Series: NA

Star Rating: 3 stars

tw: death, alcohol, illness, parental death, abandonment, drugging of children, infidelity, mental illness, poisoning, blood, pedophilia, incest (first cousin to first cousin)

Every so often, I go through these phases of being extremely interested in pretty niche things. I blame my OCD and yes, I can make that joke because I have OCD. The latest niche interest has been Edgar Allen Poe. Ever since I watched a Buzzfeed Unsolved episode on Poe, I've been interested in his life as I don’t know that much about him. When I saw this book floating around, I decided to give it a shot. It was okay but I didn’t love it like I thought I would.

One of the faults of this book was the way it was laid out. One chapter was present time, like the few months Poe had left and then it would switch the past in the next chapter. It was a weird way to set things up. Why not just keep it in chronological order? Especially for a biography. That makes no sense to me. It confused me a lot because the present chapters would often mention things that happened in the past.  

On a more personal note, Poe seemed insufferable. Every bad thing that happened to him was someone else fault. Never mind that he mouthed off to so many people, costing him multiple jobs. He seemed just so content blaming others for his problems. It was a little bit ridiculous. His family is on the verge of starvation almost all the time and he can’t get it together long enough to keep a job and keep his family fed.  

But I did learn about Poe and some other things and anytime I learn something in a book, I consider that a win. Like did you know you could potentially have tuberculosis your whole life and it might not ever affect you? I feel like if I say tuberculosis, I’ll summon John Green. He is very into tuberculosis. Anyway, I thought it was once you got it, you were done for. But that’s not the case at all. I also learned that Poe wrote comedies. He was more interested in writing comedies than the dark stuff we know and love. I thought that was pretty interesting considering we know him for his darker stories. 

Overall, this was an okay book. It had its faults, especially the way it was set up, which was one of the reasons I rated the book lower. I did learn some new information, which is always a positive when reading biographies. I certainly will be seeking out more books about Poe and will be looking out for more of his writings.