A Mystery of Mysteries is a brilliant biography of Edgar Allan Poe
that examines the renowned author's life through the prism of his
mysterious death and its many possible causes.
It is a moment shrouded in horror and mystery. Edgar Allan Poe died on
October 7, 1849, at just forty, in a painful, utterly bizarre manner
that would not have been out of place in one of his own tales of terror.
What was the cause of his untimely death, and what happened to him
during the three missing days before he was found, delirious and "in
great distress" on the streets of Baltimore, wearing ill-fitting clothes
that were not his own?
Mystery and horror. Poe, who remains one of the most iconic of American
writers, died under haunting circumstances that reflect the two literary
genres he took to new heights. Over the years, there has been a
staggering amount of speculation about the cause of death, from rabies
and syphilis to suicide, alcoholism, and even murder. But many of these
theories are formed on the basis of the caricature we have come to
associate with Poe: the gloomy-eyed grandfather of Goth, hunched over a
writing desk with a raven perched on one shoulder, drunkenly scribbling
his chilling masterpieces. By debunking the myths of how he lived, we
come closer to understanding the real Poe--and uncovering the truth
behind his mysterious death, as a new theory emerges that could prove
the cause of Poe's death was haunting him all his life.
In a compelling dual-timeline narrative alternating between Poe's
increasingly desperate last months and his brief but impactful life,
Mark Dawidziak sheds new light on the enigmatic master of macabre.
