Literary Hangover

16 - 'The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall' by Edgar Allan Poe (1835)

02.16.2019 - By Matthew LechPlay

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Hi Listeners! This is a free edition of Literary Hangover. To support the show, become a member at patreon.com/literaryhangover

On todays show, Alex and I discuss "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall," a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in the June 1835 issue of the monthly magazine Southern Literary Messenger. A satire on the rising popularity of the sensationalist penny press magazines like The Sun, this story is as much a media critique as it is an early example of science fiction.

References:

The Folklorist, "The Great Moon Hoax.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 Oct. 2013, youtube.com/watch?v=azlz163nN-A.

Full story narration available via Librivox.org:

The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Raven Edition, Volume 1

https://librivox.org/the-works-of-edgar-allan-poe-raven-edition-volume-1/

"The Historical Novel" by Georg Lukacs (originally 1937)

Full PDF: https://thecharnelhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Georg-Luka%CC%81cs-The-Historical-Novel.pdf

How Great Science Fiction Works by Professor Gary K. Wolfe, Ph.D. in The Great Courses series.

Dinius, M. J. (2004), Poe's Moon Shot: “Hans Phaall” and the Art and Science of Antebellum Print Culture. Poe Studies/Dark Romanticism, 37: 1-10

Martinez, Carlo. "E. A. Poe's "Hans Pfaall," the Penny Press, and the Autonomy of the Literary Field." The Edgar Allan Poe Review 12, no. 1 (2011): 6-31.

"Balloon Boy" Falcon Henne Admits: "We Did This For The Show"

https://youtu.be/wI6UONWCq7A

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