TALES FROM THE CRAPPER

Edgar Allan Poe

In 1838 the American author Edgar Allan Poe wrote one of his most famous tales The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, a story about three men adrift in a boat, who survived by killing and eating their companion, a cabin boy named Richard Parker. In 1884, thirty-five years after Poe's death, a yacht called the Mignonette sank in a storm en route to Australia from England. Four of the crew put to sea in an open boat, and three were rescued twenty-four days later. They had survived by killing and eating the fourth member, a cabin boy named Richard Parker. They eventually returned home to a heroes' welcome and received only six months' imprisonment.




From The Giant Bathroom Reader