So I got two other books in the mail yesterday, both of which I've been looking forward to: Birdbrain, by Not Before Sundown (Troll)-author Johanna Sinisalo (see the Peter Owen publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk) and Gregory Rabassa's translation of José Maria de Eça de Queirós' The Correspondence of Fradique Mendes (see the Tagus Press publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk).
Curiously, both of these books, which have nothing in common, mention Poe on their respective first page: the Sinisalo has an epigraph by Poe, while the Editor's Note to the Eça de Queirós mentions him as an influence.
The fact that Poe's name appears on the first page of each of these texts is an odd if not unimaginable coincidence, but what is truly strange is that in both books his name is misspelt, as 'Edgar Allen Poe' (it should, of course, be: Allan).
I know that this is one of the most common literary misspellings, right up there with the incorrectly apostrophized Finnegans Wake, but still ... what are the odds ?
Curiously, both of these books, which have nothing in common, mention Poe on their respective first page: the Sinisalo has an epigraph by Poe, while the Editor's Note to the Eça de Queirós mentions him as an influence.
The fact that Poe's name appears on the first page of each of these texts is an odd if not unimaginable coincidence, but what is truly strange is that in both books his name is misspelt, as 'Edgar Allen Poe' (it should, of course, be: Allan).
I know that this is one of the most common literary misspellings, right up there with the incorrectly apostrophized Finnegans Wake, but still ... what are the odds ?