About Poe & I:
Welcome to Poe Cottage… Would you like a tour?
Jonah Peabody takes a job as caretaker and docent for the last home of Edgar Allan Poe in The Bronx, but from the moment he moves into Poe’s Basement—where the caretaker must live—he finds himself also living inside a Poe story, stalked by a man who seems to be his doppelganger and who seeks revenge for past misdeeds.
Jonah claims to be hunting for his lost sister, but as the narrative shifts between past and present, it’s clear that he’s not telling us the entire story. What is he hiding and why?
Haunted by the violent ghosts of his own family and Poe himself, Jonah must reconcile with his dark past before the dual shadow of guilt and grief buries him alive. Living in Poe’s Basement might just be his last chance at redemption.
The author himself lived in Poe Cottage many and many a year ago, and Poe & I is loosely based on that experience, but this is no memoir. It’s pure fiction. Or, as Poe might say, a hoax.
Listen to some praise from Mr. Mercier’s own literary double, Matthew Pearl, author of ‘The Poe Shadow:’
“Years ago, Matthew was the caretaker at the Poe Cottage in the Bronx and gave me a memorable tour, patiently answering my rambling questions. Now, in Poe and I, Matthew writes the novel that only he can, bringing us into the world of a fictional Poe Cottage caretaker who takes a stunning, jolting, absurd journey of self-discovery while immersing us in Poe lore. A unique and captivating tale worthy of the legacy of Poe.”
This is a story that’s wild, funny, irreverent, terrifying, and soaked in melancholy, a tale of family ghosts, sickness, revenge, and weird museums of unholy treasures.
If you want to find out what happens when you live in Poe’s Basement, pick up a copy of Poe & I.
Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths
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Author Bio:
Matthew Mercier is a writer and storyteller living in the woods of the Hudson Valley. He’s worked as a tour guide at the Mystic Aquarium, run a youth hostel in Albuquerque, been slimed as a salmon packer in Naknek, Alaska, provided showers for homeless men on the Bowery, and proudly served three years as head docent and caretaker for the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage in The Bronx. He earned an MFA from Hunter College where he taught writing and children’s literature. His work has appeared The Brooklyn Rail, Mississippi Review, Glimmer Train, Rosebud Magazine, Creative Nonfiction, The Fairy Tale Review, Shotgun Honey, and Mystery Tribune. He’s told stories live on stage with The Mothand been heard on NPR’s The Moth Radio Hour, as well The Story Collider, RISK and The Truth podcasts. He’s been awarded the Leon B. Burstein scholarship from the New York chapter of the Mystery Writers of America, and a residency from the Saltonstall Foundation. Currently, he is writing and producing radio dramas for Radio Free Rhinecliff in Rhinecliff, NY. For more information, visit him at matthewmercier.com.