Reviewing based on the annotations provided by Andrew Barger, this edition of Poe's poems was underwhelming and difficult to read. The formatting of the text was messy and confusing (it is much easier to read annotations when they are footnoted rather than shoved in before the poem), and the information provided was either superfluous or uninteresting. The illustrations, too, became tedious as they occupied entire pages and interfered with the reading of "The Raven". Though Barger's intent on dividing the poems thematically is interesting, this allowed for very lose ties between the poems when reading through the book cover-to-cover. I found myself desiring a little variety a few poems into "Women in Edgar Allen Poe's Life".It is very apparent that Barger has a lot of knowledge and passion for Edgar Allen Poe, but this allowed for an annotated collection of poetry in which the editor's contextualization overwhelms the poet's actual work. The annotations (for the most part) don't even provide guidelines or the editor's insight into how the poems should be read apart from defining a handful of confusing terms.Overall, I appreciate Barger's desire to provide autobiographical context to Poe's work, but it doesn't work in this form - perhaps an essay format would be better suited. Reading this book was difficult and confusing due to the formatting of the pages and organization of the texts, and I feel Poe's poems were not presented in an accessible or enjoyable manner.
