Poe a Humbug?

I overlooked this fairly important late April piece by Jill Lepore of "The New Yorker" about Edgar Allan Poe until today. Her article "The Humbug" examines two facets of the weird writer: his alleged fictions and exaggerations about his own life, and the impact of the flagging economy on Poe's attitude and literary output. The second point is particularly fascinating. The market bubbles, recessions, and bank battles of the early 19th century that Poe witnessed firsthand are powerful and relevant: especially given our own dour world economy today. The idea that these Meltdown precursors might have influenced Poe's fiction in remarkable ways is an intriguing suggestion not previously explored to great heights in prior scholarship--casual or serious--on the author.

Unfortunately, Lepore's introduction and the article's sub-heading of "Edgar Allan Poe and the Economy of Horror" are somewhat misleading. Instead of a reflective article on Poe and the poor economy he worked in, she takes us on a tour of his lies and personal failings such as chronic alcoholism. Her guidance through the ins and outs of Poe's life is sound enough, but contains not nearly enough exploration of the economic shocks felt by Poe and expressed in his fiction. Moreover, there's a hint of slightly ridiculous hostility directed at Poe himself by the author of this piece in several confounding incidences, degrading the article's integrity even more.

It's easy to envision an appetizing item of scholarship materializing from the study of Edgar Allan Poe and the 19th century economic heart attacks that descended throughout his life. Sadly, Lepore's misguided claim at examining this relationship is overshadowed by a lengthy exploration of Poe as liar, braggart, and (gasp!) racist. Those looking for commentary on the dark side of E.A. Poe and basic facts about his life will find something of interest in "The Humbug." For the rest of us hungry for new, innovative studies into Poe and the historical circumstances surrounding him, we can only hope the tantalizing relationship of author and economy proposed in this article will compel a more skilled weird scholar to turn their lens toward a real study of this issue.

-Grim Blogger