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Poe's "Diddling" and the depression: notes on the sources of swindling. (Edgar Allan Poe)

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From: Studies in American Fiction
Date: 19950922
Author:Whalen, Terence

Edgar Allan Poe's satire 'Diddling Considered as One of the Exact Sciences' has been speculated to have been inspired by ignorance or opportunism. The story illustrates the ability of some individuals to exploit anonymity by transforming other people into ready sources of income. Through the acts of obvious concealment depicted in Poe's tales, his stories imply that literature itself is the supreme form of diddling, or swindling.

In a recent article for Poe Studies, John E. Reilly discusses the possible sources for Poe's satire on swindling, "Diddling Considered as One of the Exact ...

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