Edgar Allan Poe: The Ambiguity of Death (The Ambiguities) Paperback – August 24, 2015

I will tell you first that Edgar Allan Poe is my favorite author. I own everything he's ever written, and several biographies. Therefore, I was intrigued by this book. Unfortunately, it's not exactly what I expected. I have attempted several times to read and re-read it, only to put it down. Finally coming to a conclusion, I can only hope to understand what the author is trying to communicate.It is written in the style of Poe's books, as a sort of non-fiction fiction. But the difference is that with Mr. Poe's works, we knew that it was fiction; here it seems the author is attempting to channel Edgar, and I am not quite sure it works. At least, it doesn't work for me. At times I wasn't even sure if the people mentioned above were speaking about Poe or merely talking between themselves. I wasn't sure whether I was privy to a conversation about Poe, or if he were listening from another table nearby, in the first pages of the book.As I read the ensuing chapters, I learned very little that would interest me. Labeling chapters such as Berenice - which was a tale by EAP - I wasn't sure if the author was reiterating what Poe had already written, or if he was attempting to put his own spin on it. This was just one of the examples I encountered that seemed odd somehow. Another is The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, Poe's only complete novel. Mr. Cafiero is reiterating Poe's work, but in such a way as it appears to be told by someone else. Honestly, I'm not sure what Mr. Cafiero wanted to achieve in this book, but it just doesn't appeal to me.In the end, this book might be for others who enjoy this type of writing, but it just wasn't for me. Three stars for a worthy effort, but unfortunately it couldn't hold my interest.