The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Phaall

by Edgar Allan Poe

Overview

Fiction. Hans Phaall, a bankrupt bellows-mender from Rotterdam, thinks up an ingenious scheme to escape from his dreary existence. He constructs a balloon that will carry him all the way to the moon. First published in 1835, when Poe was twenty-five years old and virtually unknown, the tale - much admired by Jules Verne - describes an extraordinary adventure in which Poe's learning and imagination form a hallucinatory mix of science and fiction. For that reason HANS PHAALL is looked upon by many as the first true science-fiction story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789075342109
Publisher:	Sea Urchin Editions
Publication date:	01/01/2001
Pages:	89
Product dimensions:	4.40(w) x 6.30(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) was orphaned at the age of three and adopted by a wealthy Virginia family with whom he had a troubled relationship. He excelled in his studies of language and literature at school, and self-published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, in 1827. In 1830, Poe embarked on a career as a writer and began contributing reviews and essays to popular periodicals. He also wrote sketches and short fiction, and in 1833 published his only completed novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Over the next five years he established himself as a master of the short story form through the publication of "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Masque of the Red Death," "The Tell-Tale Heart," and other well–known works. In 1841, he wrote "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," generally considered the first modern detective story. The publication of The Raven and Other Poems in 1845 brought him additional fame as a poet.