Complex Numbers

Poe Dunk

Now it's time to once again talk about one of my literary spirit guides.

How to Deal with Rejection (and Get Revenge) Like Edgar Allan Poe  
Catherine Baab-Muguira on Doubling Down on Your Ambitions

Before we get into it, this is essentially a book ad. I've already stated, numerous times, my opinion on that. But for those with other opinions, I issue this disclaimer.

When Edgar Allan Poe was 17 years old, he and John Allan loaded up the family station wagon with all his clothes, posters, and books, and made the 70-mile trek west to Charlottesville, Virginia.

In the interest of clarity, I will point out that this journey was 200 years ago. These days, I make that trip pretty regularly (or did, in the Before Time, when I had a car) and it takes about an hour. The author here is being deliberately modern, I think, but I'm pretty sure horses were involved in the journey, a "station wagon" was something else entirely, it was probably muddy, and it took a bit more than an hour.

Also, it's northwest, not west. Look at a map.

Among the rolling hills of that town, Thomas Jefferson had recently founded a university meant to serve the sons of the state—at least, those sons who could afford to spend a few years drinking, gambling, goofing off, and, on occasion, attending the odd lecture, maybe sitting an exam or two.

Not much has changed in 200 years. More out-of-state students, but the rest is pretty much the same.

Writing to Poe’s brother Henry in 1824, John Allan pointedly referred to Rosalie as “half your Sister,” adding piously, in case his point was somehow missed, “God forbid my dear Henry that We should visit upon the living the Errors & frailties of the dead.”

I consider that fairly progressive for the time. Considering that at the time, some people owned other people.

You know how it goes. You’re on your own for the first time. You don’t want to admit how lost you are, don’t want to beg or turn back the way you came. And so, to cover the widening gap between your means and your expenses, you start to borrow. If there had been, in those days, credit-card company reps loitering outside the UVA student union with their quills and free waistcoats, Poe would have signed up on the spot.

Those bastards helped me fuck up my twenties. Notice how I accept the brunt of the blame. But they enabled.

After a few hands, he found himself in an even bigger hole, so he just kept on playing and losing, and losing, and losing, until he was $2,000 in hock—some $50,000 in today’s money.

Now he really couldn’t stay in Charlottesville. There was nothing for it but to trudge home, tail between his legs, creditors nipping at his heels.

You can still visit the room where Poe stayed while at UVA. It's a couple miles from where I'm sitting. As with so many other historical sites, given that he wouldn't achieve fame for many more years, it's uncertain whether the official room is the actual room. But whatever; it's worth a visit anyway.

Anyway, that's even more debt than I had incurred. And that's without credit cards.

The excerpt goes on to detail Poe's return to Richmond and rejection by his foster father, which caused him to once again leave Richmond and become... well... Poe.

Yet all of us will face rejection at some point. No one is exempt, which makes it all the more important that you understand how to have the right response—that, no matter your age or exact situation, you harness the gut-searing motivation that rejection can provide you, and make an ardent resolution like Poe himself made. “If you determine to abandon me,” he ranted to Allan in another letter later that year, “I will be doubly ambitious, & the world shall hear of the son whom you have thought unworthy of your notice.”

Translation: The best revenge is living well, and, as per the old Klingon proverb, "Revenge is a dish best served cold." (Gagh, on the other hand, is a dish best served still squirming.)

But you don’t have to mirror Poe’s exact playbook, which involved hopping a ship from Richmond to Boston, Massachusetts, assuming an alias, and, while starving and struggling to find work, paying out of his own pocket to publish his first book of poems, Tamerlane. You just need to nail the larger moves, outlined below.

Boston? Hell no. It's cold in Boston. Even colder than Richmond. Even colder than the shoulder John Allan turned to Edgar.

Step 1.
Decide on revenge-via-success

You’re gifting yourself a huge sense of purpose at a moment when you might otherwise be floundering, rudderless. So screw your heart up tight. Suck in your breath. Swear to yourself that one day they—whoever “they” are—will rue the day they doubted you.

Yeah, I don't know. The old "find dirt on them and leak it to the media" trick is satisfying, too.

Step 2.
Change addresses in a big way

Think of those who’ve come before you and take heart. Generations of theater kids, queer kids, artists, intellectuals, freaks, and dissidents of all stripes have all left their hometowns for bigger arenas. Buddha did it, so did Jesus. Poe too. Why not you?

Because I'm not Buddha, Jesus, or Poe?

Still, I can't help but recommending travel for anyone who wants to write, or even just experience something new.

And that's about it for the excerpt. Mostly, I just wanted to share the link. I don't know if I'll buy the book, but it seems well-written.

Just remember, follow all of this advice and you, too, can be found dead on the streets of Baltimore someday.

Speaking of Poe, I went to see a movie that owes a lot of its existence to him.

One-Sentence Movie Review: The Batman

Battinson is a more effective Batman than I'd expected, the set designs and costumes are excellent, and the action is terrific; however, the plot is unnecessarily convoluted, and like so many other movies, it's probably longer than it really needed to be -- but my lifelong crush on Catwoman continues, so I'm glad I saw it.

Rating: 3.5/5