This biographical sketch of Edgar Allen Poe leaves you frustrated because you expect to get a taste of his poetry/prose and you never do. Without hearing Poe's words we don't get an appreciation for the way his life events informed his literary sensibility. Since Alona doesn't offer this kind of synthetic thinking this portrait of Poe falls flat. It might be unfair to make the comparison to Garrison Keillor's daily gem but in contrast to his work this sounds like a poor man's "Writer's Almanac."