After being left alone for three days, twins Edmund and Sis have run out of what little food they have. Although they were under strict orders from their aunt to stay indoors, Edmund makes the decision to head out in search of food. Unfortunately, when he returns, he discovers his sister is nowhere to be found. With his mother, aunt, and sister missing, Edmund is on his own with only a strange man to help him. Who is this man, where are his family members, and just what is the man writing?I went into this thinking I'd have a great time. I know Avi is beloved by school kids the world over, but I honestly can't recall ever reading any of his works. With the reissue of The Man Who Was Poe, plus the fact that, hello, it's POE, I figured this would be the perfect place to start.Boy was I wrong.I'm all for artistic license and taking liberties when it comes to historical figures, but come on. Avi made Poe seem like a complete lunatic. He was borderline at best, jumping from mood to mood - and even identity! He insisted Edmund address him as Auguste Dupin, one of Poe's characters. He completely lost it whenever Edmund slipped and called him Poe. He also came across as, well, kind of an ass. One of my most treasured books I own is The Poe Log (a bit hard to find these days & the ones available are a tad bit pricey, sadly). It's a painstakingly detailed account of every single day of Poe's life and then some. Letters, articles, conversations are all compiled into one volume and it's a wealth of information for any fan of Poe's. On occasion I'll flip through it (& it was my best resource for some term papers in college!) and any account I've read from Poe's friends and family make mentioned of how soft-spoken and polite he was. He definitely had a drinking problem, but the novel turned him into a Jekyll/Hyde character anytime alcohol was involved.Initially Poe - or Dupin - is willing to help Edmund find his sister, but the Crazy Train pulled up. I still don't know what happened with this one. PoeDupin is writing a story about Edmund's life and insists it can only end in death, so he decides the sister is dead and gives up his search. Naturally Edmund is distraught and bewildered and I was confused right along with him. Throw in some maybe-maybe-not ghosts, a surprise!stepfather, and a couple of bad guys for good measure and you'll get The Man Who Was Poe.Although this was such a short book it was NOT the fun, quick read I was hoping for. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more when I was 8, but to read it as an adult made my head hurt and brought for the rage. The pace was so quick I was overwhelmed and found myself struggling to keep up at times. After a very graphic chapter early on in the book (Edmund has to identify a body found in the river), The Man Who Was Poe shifted gears and was a complete disappointment. I really wanted to enjoy this one.
I remember reading The Man Who Was Poe in middle-school and really enjoying it. Just the other day, and more than a decade later, I found my copy in a box of old books and on a nostalgic whim I grabbed it on my way out the door, for something to pass the time. I must say, to my surprise, I still really enjoyed it.Avi weaves an interesting suspense mystery of interlocking story-lines, complete with Gothic settings of graveyards and foggy streets in 1848 Providence, Rhode Island. And of course, we have the master of letters himself, Edgar Allan Poe, as a central character. He grudgingly helps eleven-year-old Edmund search for his missing sister and mother, more for reasons of his own than sympathy, as in the young boy he sees a mirror of himself and the potential for a great story.Poe, calling himself Auguste Dupin, his character from “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (history’s first detective story), is depicted by Avi as a genius whose soul has been broken. Grief and alcohol have warped his mind and sensibility, and he attempts the courting of a wealthy widow in order to find not only love but some degree of normalcy in his existence. Death follows him everywhere and he is prone to spouts of delusion, where his story and reality are at times difficult to discern. His mood shifts rapidly, mostly depending on drink, and his memory drifts on a tide of rum.Poe is not a likable character, but he is the guiding force. Avi’s Poe seems more based upon the smear campaign and forged letters of Rufus Wilmot Griswold that followed his death, which presented him as a wicked drunkard, though scholarly evidence to the contrary has long been the accepted truth. This can be disheartening to Poe lovers like me, but it does make for a unique character in a young adult novel. A year after the novel takes place Poe dies under questionable circumstances. Some have said alcohol was to blame, while others have denied that reason entirely, though it is true that his engagement to Sarah Helen Whitman was ended due, supposedly, to Poe’s alcoholism and erratic behavior, so Avi isn’t entirely off the mark with his Poe.Readers shouldn’t approach this work to learn who the true Poe was, but rather to experience a clever young-adult thriller that pays homage to his style.
What do You think about The Man Who Was Poe (1997)?
I was more than a little pissed off when I found this book in the children's section of the library. My younger brother was assigned to read this for a book report. He's in 8th grade. Too old, I felt, for the kid's section.Having finished it, I'm not sure where I stand. I don't know where I'd put this book if I were in charge of the library. It does feature a young protagonist in an adventure story, but there is murder, alcoholism, and one of the more complicated characters I've read in recent memory. The story itself was pretty standard children's mystery fare in the same vein as The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew; not very memorable: a kid looks for his missing family, mysterious happenings ensue, roll credits.But Poe made it interesting. Avi chose to follow a loose series of true events as framework for the story. His depiction of Poe is not very flattering. He's a completely hopeless alcoholic who suffers from a consuming obsession with death. Some of his behavior is rather detestable and the reader spends a good deal of the time not liking him. Since, as Avi points out in the "Something About Edgar Allan Poe" section of the book, Poe is the father of the detective story, a lot of depth was added due to the use of his character as a vehicle for mystery solving. His thoughts and actions were reminiscent of a drunken Sherlock Holmes, which only makes sense, as Poe laid the groundwork for later literary sleuths.The story was entertaining and engaging and, while I originally thought time might be better spent elsewhere, a decent read for an eight grade book report.
—Caris
The story had a limited omniscient narration where the reader has insight into both of the main characters' thoughts,emotions,and actions. It was a very reliable narration because the protagonists in the story were the commentators so they gave all of the information that would help solve the mystery. It was set in old New England where it seems as though it is always gloomy and raining which helps to make the story more interesting. The message this book gives is to have a little hope. Edmund displayed this message blatantly and obviously in the book. The author Avi (Edward Irving Wortis) does a great job of showing the real Poe in a situation that did not happen. He somehow knows what Poe would've said or done if the situation did arise in the real life of Poe. In the book a young boy named Edmund is looking for his missing mother, sister, and aunt and runs into a man named Dupin. They soon work together to find these people and run into many dangers and red herrings along the way. The composition of the story is ingenious in the best way possible. It's a fun way to learn about Poe in a fictional background. You never know what will happen next and you don't want to stop reading because of it.
—Louloukay
Alone and desperate Edmund searches the city for his missing sister, looking for anyone who can help him. He runs into a man, who says his name is Mr. Dupin. The man agrees to help him but everything about him seems a bit strange to Edmund. His emotions are volatile, he drinks, and he is secretive. At the same time the man is brilliant and even though Edmund isn't sure he can rely on him Dupin is able to give some shocking insights into his missing sister. The mysterious Mr. Dupin is of course Edgar Allan Poe and in the story Avi gives a very real representation of one of America's most prolific and well-known authors. Avi gives a very realistic depiction of the author without romanticizing him. He shows Poe as a slightly disturbed and depressed man that has a drinking problem. This is done through the eyes of a child and in the context of a mystery. For all his faults, Poe is also shown as being a brilliant man and a dedicated writer. The story itself is a mystery worthy of Poe, with several twists and surprises. It is very well done and is an engaging read. Readers will really get into the story forking their own theories of what happened and alternate between cheering for Poe and groaning because of him. I recommend this story for readers in 5-8 grades.
—Kaycee
