The Man that was Used Up – A Tale of the Late Bugaboo and Kickapoo Campaign

Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, The Man That Was Used Up was originally published in 1839.

One of Poe’s satirical works, it follows the unnamed narrator as he seeks out a famous war hero and inventor called John A. B. C. Smith. When descriptions of the man are avoided and only a picture of his scientific advancements presented by those interviewed, the narrator supposes that the mysterious inventor is central to some deep secret. The Man That Was Used Up is an interesting and humorous exploration of humanity and its relationship with technology, and constitutes a must-read for fans of Poe’s fantastic work.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American author, editor, poet, and critic. Most famous for his stories of mystery and horror, he was one of the first American short story writers, and is widely considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre.

We are republishing this vintage text, The Man That Was Used Up, in an affordable, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

Extract from Edgar Allan Poe’s The Man That Was Used Up:

But although men so absolutely fine-looking are neither as plenty as reasons or blackberries, still I could not bring myself to believe that the remarkable something to which I alluded just now, — that the odd air of je ne sais quoi which hung about my new acquaintance, — lay altogether, or indeed at all, in the supreme excellence of his bodily endowments. Perhaps it might be traced to the manner; — yet here again I could not pretend to be positive. There was a primness, not to say stiffness, in his carriage — a degree of measured, and, if I may so express it, of rectangular precision, attending his every movement, which, observed in a more diminutive figure, would have had the least little savor in the world of affectation, pomposity, or constraint, but which, noticed in a gentleman of his undoubted dimensions, petit readily placed to the account of reserve, hauteur, of a commendable sense, in short, of what is due to the dignity of colossal proportion.

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Here, at edgarallanpoe.co.uk, you can find the best of this fantastic author’s novels, short stories, essays, and poems.

You can also find a biography of Edgar Allan Poe, along with some of his most famous quotes and loved poems.

Through republishing works such as ‘The Man That Was Used Up’, it is hoped that the writing of this author of mystery and the macabre, can continue to delight – almost two centuries after its initial publication.

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