featuring a foreword by Roger Corman and frontispieces by Jill Bauman!
Status: Out of Print
Publication Date: Fall 2008
About the Book:
In this fascinating, unproduced screenplay, Stewart O’Nan offers readers a unique perspective into the life and mind of the classic horror writer, Edgar Allan Poe. Much of O’Nan’s inspiration, of course, comes from Poe’s written work, and one of the many pleasures of this screenplay is how it dramatizes the origin of iconic stories or poems: a distraught glance in the mirror predicts the doppelgänger of “William Wilson,” or the distracting chatter of birds suggests the idea of “The Raven.” O’Nan sorts through the representations and misrepresentations of Poe’s many biographers—including his enemy turned literary executor, Rufus Griswold—to produce a multi-faceted portrait of this famous, and famously troubled, writer.
Admirers of Poe’s influential writings will recognize their favorite author in this screenplay, which is simultaneously a realistic look at his life, an homage to the gothic castles and mist-shrouded forests of classic B-Movies, and a sometimes-surreal meditation on Poe’s addictions, obsessions, and inspirations. These pages depict a “bloodier, sexier Poe,” as he might have been directed in a film by Pier Paolo Pasolini—a depiction O’Nan hopes will appeal to fans of Roger Corman and Federico Fellini alike.
Featuring a special introduction from horror film legend Roger Corman, this unique production is only available as a Lonely Road Books special edition.
“A page-turner that delivers a tale as full of mystery and imagination as Poe’s famous stories… Stewart O’Nan’s life of Poe would make a great movie: erotic, violent, darkly humorous, suspenseful, and shocking.”
— Roger Corman, director of House of Usher, Pit and the Pendulum, and The Raven
About the Special Features:
With an oversized page size and an extremely low print run, Poe: A Screenplay by Stewart O’Nan is being designed with the ultimate collectors in mind.
Each edition will feature a deluxe binding selected from the finest materials available. The Limited Edition will be housed in a custom-made slipcase and the Lettered Edition will be protected by a custom-made traycase.
Each edition features a unique frontispiece painted by acclaimed artist Jill Bauman. You can see the Lettered Edition’s artwork on this page.
About the Author:
Stewart O’Nan’s award-winning fiction includes Snow Angels, The Names of the Dead, The Speed Queen, A World Away, A Prayer for the Dying, Everyday People, The Night Country, The Good Wife, Last Night at the Lobster, and the story collection In the Walled City. He also co-wrote Faithful with Stephen King. In 1996, Granta named him one of America’s Best Young Novelists.
Limitation Information:
• Limited Edition: 200 copies, signed by the author and the artist on a specially illustrated signature page, bound in a deluxe material, with a frontispiece created specifically for this edition, and housed in a custom-made slipcase ($100)
• Lettered Edition: 26 copies, with all the special features of the Limited Edition, a different type of high quality binding, a different frontispiece, and all housed in a custom-made deluxe traycase ($300)