Puzzling Poe: America’s Dark Genius

He was the author of some of the world’s best-known poems and tales: “The Raven,” “Annabel Lee,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and others. He invented the detective story and was a pioneer of science fiction. He was one of the greatest literary critics of the nineteenth century. Meanwhile, his life was one of poverty, misery, neglect, and self-sabotage.