...Other than Quentin, most of the book's characters in this
1849 setting do not appreciate or read Edgar Allan Poe's
works, and this is part of what provokes Quentin to try
to rescue Poe's name. Why do you think Poe means so much
to Quentin?
...(follow up) If you have read Poe in the past, what is your
own history of reading Poe? Is there any author, from past or present,
whom you would "fight" for as much as Quentin does for Poe?
...In addition to serving as physical locales, Baltimore
and Paris may be said to serve as "characters" in the book. What
do the cities add to the novel, and what kinds of details bring
alive their histories?
...As the historical note at the back of the novel explains,
the book uses authentic details about Poe's strange death.
Had you heard anything about Poe's death before reading
The Poe Shadow? After reading the evidence and theories throughout
the novel, do you agree with all of the conclusions
presented by the characters in the final chapters,
or do you have other theories?
...(follow up) If you had been in Quentin's position
at the end of the novel, would you have made the information on
Poe's death public, or kept it private?
...Auguste Duponte and Baron Claude Dupin can be seen
as doubles or doppelgangers, and the book discusses Poe's
use of doubles in works such as "William Wilson," a tale
that features two identical characters with the same names.
Discuss the use of doubles and doubling in The Poe Shadow.
Are there any other doubles besides Duponte and Dupin? Does
Quentin have any doubles? Does Edgar Allan Poe?
...The word "shadow" is used in many different ways in the novel.
Quentin tells us, "Poe once wrote in a tale about the conflict
between the substance and the shadow inside of us. The substance,
what we know we should do, and the shadow, the dangerous and
giggling Imp of the Perverse, the dark knowledge of what we
must or will do or secretly want. The shadow always prevails."
What are possible meanings of the title "The Poe Shadow"?
...What if Quentin had met Poe before Poe died? Do you
think this would have made his personal quest more or
less important to him?
