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.