Where Monsters Dwell Read Online Free PDF Page B

mid-nineteenth century during the first flowering of American literature, when pamphlets, newspapers, and magazines came and went, and a poor writer often had to switch from one publisher to the next. This was the time of writing contests, feuilletons, and the penny press.
    “Griswold succeeded Poe as the editor of Graham’s Magazine in Philadelphia in 1843. No one knows why, but Griswold couldn’t stand his predecessor; the main reason was presumably that Poe was a far more interesting editor than Griswold could ever be. One of the things he’s notorious for is rejecting Poe’s most famous poem, ‘The Raven,’ which was later published in the Evening Mirror .”
    Now Vatten felt his cheeks flushing. He had read about Poe with great interest, but this was the first time he’d had an opportunity to talk about the author. He noticed how much the material fascinated him, as if it somehow had something to do with him personally.
    “Griswold was even more notorious for acting as Poe’s agent after the author died. He was the first to have a collected edition of Poe’s works printed, but then he topped it all off by writing a damaging memorial as the foreword. That was where he presented the somewhat unstable author as a mad, alcoholic, and doped-up misanthrope. It was a real character assassination.”
    “Not a pleasant guy, this Mr. Griswold, I guess.”
    “Apparently not. But the sad thing about it all is that Poe’s brief, brutal biography, which posterity has shown to have been partially based on forged letters, was long considered the official portrait of the author. Not until the 1900s did people begin to get a more nuanced picture of Poe. But many of Griswold’s characterizations and assertions cling to Poe even today. One of them is the claim that he was an incurable alcoholic.”
    “And he wasn’t, was he?” While Vatten talked, Gunn Brita had taken out a little corkscrew from her purse and opened the wine bottle. Now she slipped inside her office as he continued lecturing in a somewhat louder voice so that she would be able to hear him.
    “I wouldn’t want to say one way or the other. There’s still a chance he was, but researchers are no longer certain. Poe’s brother-in-law at the time, Thomas Maine Reid, does admit that a good deal of liquor was consumed, but he also says in one place that Poe was not addicted to alcohol and seldom drank very much. Today many people believe that Poe drank only during difficult periods, and there is evidence that he could stay sober for months on end. It was in conjunction with this discussion that I came across someone who claimed that Poe was hypersensitive to alcohol.”
    “So you have something in common.” Now Gunn Brita came back from her office carrying two mugs. On one of them it said “World’s Best Mom” and on the other “Fosen Water Ski Team.” That mug had a picture of a tall, slim woman elegantly flying over the crests of the waves on a single ski. He couldn’t understand why that mug had ended up in her possession.
    “When did you discover that you were hypersensitive to alcohol?” asked Gunn Brita.
    “It was actually something that came on gradually. It wasn’t until I started at university that I developed the problem. I couldn’t drink even half a liter of beer on Friday night without getting plastered.”
    “And when was the last time you took a drink?”
    “Many years ago. It must have been…” Here Vatten stopped abruptly, but her eyes confirmed that she had understood what he had almost said.
    “How do you know that you still can’t tolerate alcohol?” she asked.
    “Well, I actually don’t know that,” he replied, casting another skeptical glance at the two mugs. “Not without trying it.”
    “It’s safe to test it here. If you get dead drunk from one mug of wine, I promise to take you home and put you to bed. It’s your day off tomorrow, anyway.”
    “OK, why not?” said Vatten, taking the mug that said