Poe for Your Problems: Uncommon Advice from History's Least Likely Self-Help Guru
- Downloads：1780
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-08-11 14:16:02
- Update Date：2025-09-23
- Status：finish
- Author：Catherine Baab-Muguira
- ISBN：0762499095
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
When life’s got you down and things aren’t going your way， who better to turn to than Edgar Allan Poe？ Discover how to say "nevermore" to your problems in this darkly comedic and refreshing self-help guide。
Of all the writers anywhere， Poe might be the least likely person you'd ever turn to for advice。 His life was a complete dumpster fire: he married his cousin; got fired from one job after another; constantly feuded with friends and rivals; and he was always broke。 But that’s also precisely the point。 Though Poe failed again and again， he also persevered。
Drawing deeply on his works and life， Catherine Baab-Muguira takes the familiar image of Poe in a new and surprising direction in this darkly inspiring self-help book。 Despite what you might think， Edgar Allan Poe is the perfect person to teach you to say "Nevermore， problems！" and show you how to use all the terrible situations， tough breaks， bad luck， and even your darkest emotions in novel and creative ways to make a name for yourself and carve out your own unique， notorious place in the world。
An inspirational tale for black sheep everywhere， Poe for Your Problems will teach you how to overcome life’s biggest challenges to succeed at work， love， and art—despite the odds and no matter your flaws。
Of all the writers anywhere， Poe might be the least likely person you'd ever turn to for advice。 His life was a complete dumpster fire: he married his cousin; got fired from one job after another; constantly feuded with friends and rivals; and he was always broke。 But that’s also precisely the point。 Though Poe failed again and again， he also persevered。
Drawing deeply on his works and life， Catherine Baab-Muguira takes the familiar image of Poe in a new and surprising direction in this darkly inspiring self-help book。 Despite what you might think， Edgar Allan Poe is the perfect person to teach you to say "Nevermore， problems！" and show you how to use all the terrible situations， tough breaks， bad luck， and even your darkest emotions in novel and creative ways to make a name for yourself and carve out your own unique， notorious place in the world。
An inspirational tale for black sheep everywhere， Poe for Your Problems will teach you how to overcome life’s biggest challenges to succeed at work， love， and art—despite the odds and no matter your flaws。
Reviews
Lynne Griffin
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I loved this anti-self-help book so much I’m doing a Q&A with author Catherine Baab-Muguira on my Psychology Today blog， Field Guide to Families。 Link to follow。 This gem of a book is insightful and funny， lots of food for thought。 Highly recommend。
Cheryl
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I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway。 Thank you Goodreads， Running Press， and Catherine Baab-Muguira。 Full disclosure: I’ve read a self-help book or two in my day， but have since distanced myself from the genre to focus more on reading fiction， because， well， there’s only so much you can do。。。The allure of self-help is still strong for me though。 Who doesn’t want to be their best self？ So I was excited to dig into this accessible mash-up of self-help & biography featuring Edgar Allen Poe， who I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway。 Thank you Goodreads， Running Press， and Catherine Baab-Muguira。 Full disclosure: I’ve read a self-help book or two in my day， but have since distanced myself from the genre to focus more on reading fiction， because， well， there’s only so much you can do。。。The allure of self-help is still strong for me though。 Who doesn’t want to be their best self？ So I was excited to dig into this accessible mash-up of self-help & biography featuring Edgar Allen Poe， who is both a disastrous failure in life & a literary success for all eternity。What kept this from being a five star read for me were the cutesy references & throwaway self-help exercises， although I did find it helpful in reframing my feelings about frenemies & the benefits of having a bad reputation。 I’ll never read Edgar Allen Poe the same way again！ 。。。more
Shawna
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Exactly what you would expect a self-help book by Poe to be like - dark， sometimes comical and advice that you could actually use （perhaps）
Brian Greene
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What a unique take on Poe’s life， and what a unique book！ Poe for Your Problems isn’t a biography of EAP， but then it kinda is。 And it’s not really a self-help book that uses Poe’s worldview and life approach as a guide to self-actualization， but then it sorta is。 Well-researched and informative， outrageous at times and deadly serious at others， Baab-Muguira’s book is a hard-to-categorize work that’s so much the better for not being exactly any one thing。It’s a biography in a way， in the sense t What a unique take on Poe’s life， and what a unique book！ Poe for Your Problems isn’t a biography of EAP， but then it kinda is。 And it’s not really a self-help book that uses Poe’s worldview and life approach as a guide to self-actualization， but then it sorta is。 Well-researched and informative， outrageous at times and deadly serious at others， Baab-Muguira’s book is a hard-to-categorize work that’s so much the better for not being exactly any one thing。It’s a biography in a way， in the sense that it chronologically describes the most notable episodes of Poe’s life。 It includes many facts and anecdotes that will be news to most readers， even if they’ve taken in a Poe biography or two。 And it’s a self-help book in that it really does advise us readers to take Poe’s cues to enrich our lives。 The catch about it being a personal improvement guide is that， as the subtitle suggests， the advice is everything any normal book of that type would strongly tell you not to do。 It suggests that we do like Poe did and cling to our grievances and inner pains， rather than keep a chin up and see the bright side of life while waiting for a better day。 It says we should do as EAP did at times and， if we feel under-recognized by the outer world， or just in desperate need of some pocket cash， make so much noise about ourselves that people have no choice but to pay attention to us; and if that means embellishing our life story or even totally inventing pieces of it， so be it。 Strive for integrity above all else in creative pursuits？ Bah！ Sell the hell out instead！ Got some issues with your boss at work？ Belittle them rather than suck up。 Is Baab-Muguira totally serious when writing all of this？ That’s hard to pin down， and that elusiveness is some of what fuels the narrative。 I can tell you that many times throughout the read， I found myself thinking， “Yeah， I should totally do that！”With razor-sharp wit and an uncanny knack for dropping contemporary cultural references that place Poe and his ways in today’s world， Baab-Muguria weaves a singular web that could please both literary scholars and lay people who just want a good， smart laugh about human affairs。 The author comes off as both a keenly intelligent and knowledgeable Poe specialist and a world-wise comedian。 Readers familiar with Poe’s literary output， who don’t know much about his life， will learn a lot about the latter from this book。 Those who know both the work and the personal saga will be tickled by this refreshingly surprising way of looking at both。 Just about anyone can get a charge from taking in such a unique take on the startling life story of one of the great literary anti-heroes。 。。。more
Stephenie Brown
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Way funnier than any other self-help I've seen before。 Way more literary， and WAAAY darker。 In fact， the darkness is the whole point。 No matter how messed up I am， I can look at Poe's life and feel better。 This book is sort of a satire of self-help that somehow， strangely， seems to work BETTER than most self-help at putting problems in perspective。 It's fun all the way through to the bitter， drunken end。 Way funnier than any other self-help I've seen before。 Way more literary， and WAAAY darker。 In fact， the darkness is the whole point。 No matter how messed up I am， I can look at Poe's life and feel better。 This book is sort of a satire of self-help that somehow， strangely， seems to work BETTER than most self-help at putting problems in perspective。 It's fun all the way through to the bitter， drunken end。 。。。more
CJ Connor
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