Julian Symons, himself a writer of detective stories, gives a straightforward, knowledgeable account of Poe's life in The Tell Tale Heart. This in itself is no mean feat: more than one biographer has turned the life into a florid gothic tale. But Symons is so wary of the maudlin and the melodramatic, so devoted to recording every event in its proper sequence, that he fails to uncover the full dimensions of his subject. The Poe Symons speaks of most often is the contented family man, the industrious journalist, the courteous southern gentleman. Of the darker side, like a good detective storyteller, he gives us all the evidence. But the mystery of Poe is not easily solved; a summary of the evidence is not enough to suggest a solution. Consider the case of Poe's bizarre marriage to his 13-year-old cousin. What are we to make of this? Earlier biographers...