The Spectacles

By Edgar Allan Poe

This volume contains Edgar Allen Poe’s 1844 short story, “The Spectacles”. A young Napoleon Boneparte alters his name in an attempt to inherit a sizable wealth from a distant relative. He falls in love with a seemingly beautiful woman at the opera, but, being extremely vain, refuses to wear his spectacles… a mistake that he vows never to make again once he realises her true identity. 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. Many antiquarian books such as this are becoming increasingly rare and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Oct 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781473377684

Edgar Allan Poe

New York Times bestselling author Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University, with appointments at the Fuqua School of Business, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, and the Department of Economics. He has also held a visiting professorship at MIT’s Media Lab. He has appeared on CNN and CNBC, and is a regular commentator on National Public Radio’s Marketplace. He lives in Durham, North Carolina, with his wife and two children.

Reviews for The Spectacles

[readers_respite · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While reading the novel Asta's Book, a character referenced the Edgar Allan Poe short story, "The Spectacles." The reference wasn't fully explained, so I dropped my novel and immediately retrieved by huge book of Poe's work from my shelf.The story features a rather vain young man who is too proud of his looks to wear the glasses he so desperately needs. Instead, he makes do without them and the consequences, in this story, are hysterically funny. When our young man spots a beautiful woman at the opera, it is love at first sight. He contrives to meet the woman, who professes her own immediate love for him, and they are quickly married. It isn't until after the wedding that our young man, in deference to his new wife's demand, dons a pair of spectacles. Imagine his horror and surprise to finally see his new spouse clearly: she is 82 years old. HA!There's another twist at the end which furthers the humor of the entire situation, but I can't reveal that part without spoiling it. It's a short story....10-15 pages at the most.....read it. You'll laugh. :)