Book Description
Did Edgar Allen Poe fake his death? That’s what a Baltimore doctor needs to figure out in the title tale for this 11th story collection by Jack Matthews. As one critic wrote, “Matthews stories are like friends from small towns: They are honest, warm, occasionally lyrical and as strange and idiosyncratic as the rest of us.”
Characters face all kinds of improbable situations in this collection. A US army battalion finds itself locked in an absurd stalemate with German troops at the end of World War Two. A second-string college football player inexplicably receives an athletic prize. A middle-aged man discovers that random women around his neighborhood are walking around nude. A man witnesses a car falling out of the sky into a supermarket parking lot. A book collector and his wife concoct a mad plan to outbid a mysterious competitor for a 17th century manuscript.
In the novella-sized title story, Edgar Allen Poe’s doctor investigates the mystery of Poe’s disappearance from his deathbed and the very real possibility that Poe (or someone purporting to be him) has fled to Louisiana and been sending enigmatic clues. As author of several novels set in 19th century America (Gambler’s Nephew, Sassafras and Soldier Boys), Jack Matthews (1925-2013) writes about early America with gusto and insight.
In contrast to previous story collections (which lean more to the cerebral or poetic), the Matthews stories collected here are down-to-earth yarns: gently satirical and reminiscent of John Cheever’s fiction. Most are like pleasant strolls through Midwestern neighborhoods, glimpsing random people at backyard parties, cafes and parking lots.
- Retail Price: $3
- Publication Date: November 15, 2021
- Genre: Short Stories
- Places to Buy: Google Play |BN | Apple | Kobo | Amazon US | Amazon UK |
- Social Media: Librarything | Goodreads
- Where to Buy the “No DRM” Version: Payhip| Smashwords
- Available NOW for less on Payhip!
- Word Count: 73,000 (approximately 210 pages)
Jack Matthews (1925-2013) published 20+ books and taught literature at Ohio University over four decades. His story collections were praised by authors such as Eudora Welty and W.P. Kinsella and received positive reviews in places like New York Times Book Review and the Los Angeles Times Book Review. He is the author of Hanger Stout, Awake, a modern coming-of-age novel about a teenage boy’s obsession with cars (which was praised by Time Magazine and called by National Book Award winner William Stafford “one of the most neglected works of the 20th century.”) He has published multiple essays and several works of fiction about life in 19th century America.
** The “No DRM” version allows you to download the files directly (rather than read it only on the bookstore’s own ereading system). Besides being more compatible, buying the NO DRM version often is 25-50% cheaper than other retailers.
Note: Another collection — tentatively titled Boxes of Time — is expected to be published in late 2022.
Book Reviews
The Second Death of E.A. Poe and Other Stories is a fun gathering of odd and insightful inspections. It opens with “Trophy for an Earnest Boy,” which tells of a college sophomore football player who harbors a “wildness of spirit” and dreams about his future success.
Only a nineteen-year-old could take a game that is a miserable experience for a “…gullible, earnest nineteen year old boy who went out on a soggy field and struggled in the icy mud for two exasperating hours” and turn it into a lesson on winning, losing, and an ethical dilemma over a trophy’s assignment.
Contrast this with “Indispensable Ghosts,” in which a collector of 16th century devotional literature considers a fellow collector who is “…grimly possessed, frying like a rasher of bacon in a chrism of bibliophilic madness.”
Everyone needs someone or something to push against, as the narrator’s wife observes: “…some people need that sort of tension, don’t they?” “What sort?” “Somebody to push against. To feel their presence against.” Waldo Kiefer serves that function in this story, which juxtaposes literary collectors of devotional material in a competition which erupts into a professional war between competing bibliophiles, where more is at stake than ownership.
Readers of these literary examinations will find Jack Matthews cultivates a diverse set of scenarios, voices, and experiences that especially stand out with metaphorical representations.
His language is bright, original, and refreshingly startling. This is one reason why each short story is a standout – that, and his attention to capturing different details in disparate lives and experiences.
Each story is refreshingly unique. Each captures the nuances of choices which often embrace betrayal, loyalty, and passion.
Literary readers seeking a collection that embeds whimsy and fun into its life inspections will find The Second Death of E.A. Poe and Other Stories is filled with unexpected moments and revelations that shine.
D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
***
Ten unique short stories, all wonderfully worthwhile. All adult readers could find a tale that suits them in this collection. 4 stars (out of 5). Theresa Kadair, San Francisco Book Review, November 2021. (Read the full review)
Theresa Kadair, San Francisco Book Review, November 2021.
