Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was orphaned as a child and raised by John Allan, a successful businessman of Richmond, Virginia. The Allan Family took Poe to England and placed him in a private school. When he returned to the United States in 1820, he continued to go to private schools. He attended the University of Virginia for a year, but in 1827 his foster father refused to pay for his debts because of Poe's drinking and gambling problems. Poe, disliking his new job, quit and went to Boston. In Boston, he wrote his first book, "Tamerlane and Other Poems" (1827), published anonymously. Shortly afterward, Poe enlisted in the U.S. Army and served a two-year term. In 1829, his second volume of verse, "Al Aaraaf," was published, and he effected a reconciliation with Allan, who secured him an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy. After only a few months at the academy, Poe was dismissed for neglect of duty, and his foster father disowned him permanently. Poe's third book, "Poems," appeared in 1831, and he moved to Baltimore the following year.
             While in Baltimore, he lived with his aunt and her 11-year-old daughter, Virginia Clemm. The year following his arrival to Baltimore, his tale "A Message Found in a Bottle" won a contest sponsored by the Baltimore Saturday Visitor. From 1835 to 1837, Poe was an editor of the Southern Literary Messenger. In 1836 he married his young cousin, Virginia. During the following decade, Poe worked as an editor for various periodicals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in New York City. In 1847, Virginia died and Poe became ill; his terrible addiction to liquor and his suspected use of drugs, recorded by contemporaries, may have contributed to his early death.
             In the course of his editorial work, Poe functioned largely as a book reviewer and produced a significant body of criticism; his essays were famous for their sarcasm, and wit. His Novels have lasted through different ...