Interview with John Isaac Jones 2
John Isaac Jones
author of "A Quiet Madness: A biographical novel of Edgar Allan Poe"
Michael Carter
Co-Host
John Isaac Jones, author of "A Quiet Madness: A biographical novel of Edgar Allan Poe"
John Isaac Jones's Website
JOHN ISAAC JONES, is a retired journalist currently living and writing at Merritt Island, Florida. For more than thirty years, John I., as he prefers to be called, was a reporter for media outlets throughout the world. These included local newspapers in his native Alabama, The National Enquirer, News of the World in London, the Sydney Morning Herald, and NBC television.
This is the second volume in his Great American Authors Series. The first was A Quiet Madness, a biographical novel of Edgar Allan Poe, which was published in August of 2020.
America’s most famous poet lives again within the pages of John I.’s new biographical novel. His early orphan years, his tumultuous relationship with his foster father, his scandalous affairs, his glory days as a New York City literary scion and his untimely death at the age of forty in a barroom brawl. It’s all here!
Behind the Story
For years, I have been fascinated by the work of Edgar Allan Poe. When I read Annabel Lee in the eighth grade and saw the lines: “For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams of the beautiful Annabel Lee and the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes…,” I thought those were the most beautiful lines of poetry I had ever read. In the spring of 2017, I was on my patio reading Poe’s short story The Black Cat when I decided to write a biographical novel about his life. After two years of research and more rewrites than I care to mention, A Quiet Madness was born!
Reviews
“What made the man? Edgar Allan Poe sits among the great poets and wordsmiths for his literary talents. The nineteenth-century ‘man of letters’ possessed an assortment of opinions on topics of life, love, amorous congress, and death. He acquired his unique style and aptitude over forty years of life. And what a life it was!
This reader remained fascinated by this down-to-earth, well written biographical novel by John Isaac Jones, who details heartbreaking events, along with Poe’s love of women, writing, successful ventures, and failures from birth to his passing. With the revelation of additional segments of interesting information, the reader is drawn deeper into Poe’s psyche.
Jones achieves his goal of illustrating Poe’s development as a writer by including certain poems. We see Poe’s victories, along with his many agonizing defeats. However, Jones also reveals Poe’s powerful resilience to triumph over adversity, no matter how vicious, right up to the conclusion of his rollercoaster life.
This reader and author knew basically nothing of Poe, aside from the poem ‘The Raven’ and the old movie ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’.
However, because of the gifted author, John I. Jones, and this fine piece of writing, I vow to read more of Edgar Allan Poe’s work – since now I know ‘what made the man’. I highly recommend ‘A Quiet Madness’ and other outstanding books by John Isaac Jones.” – Author Lee Carey
“Fabulous read! Anyone that is a fan of Edgar Allan Poe will thoroughly enjoy this read. I enjoyed the story as it was woven factually, fictitiously, and historically from before Poe’s birth to his death. Mr. Jones captured all the critical milestones in Poe’s literary career and included some of his most important pieces. One of the better books I have read in a while.” – MK, Amazon reviewer
“Loved this book! I really enjoyed reading this book. I didn’t want to put it down. The story flowed perfectly, and I hated to see it end. I know there were a lot of blanks in Poe’s life, and even though this is a biographical novel, it fills in those blanks in a very believable and interesting way. I highly recommend this book.” – CindyF, Amazon customer