by Matthew Mercier
by Matthew MercierDo we know the real Edgar Allan Poe?
That rhyming question will haunt this essay, and it haunts me more than it haunts you, I wager, since it was my honor and duty—my job—to speak endlessly about Poe every weekend for five years at Poe Cottage in The Bronx.
When I took the position, I was required to not only read everything Poe wrote, but also to live in the cottage as the caretaker. To be more precise, I was required to live under the cottage, in Poe’s Basement, a basement that did not exist in Edgar’s 19th century. The cottage, moved across the street from its original location, now sits atop a modern foundation at the intersection of the Grand Concourse and Kingsbridge Road, situated in a city park aptly named Poe Park. A locked gate surrounds th
