--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Detective fiction could not have existed…" description: "\"Detective fiction could not have existed without Edgar Allan Poe.\" — Giles Foden" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/giles-foden-24483_allan-poe_detective-fiction-could-not-have-existed_1192571.jpg" --- # Detective fiction could not have existed without Edgar… ![“Detective fiction could not have existed without Edgar Allan Poe.” quote by Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/giles-foden-24483_allan-poe_detective-fiction-could-not-have-existed_1192571.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/giles-foden-24483_allan-poe_detective-fiction-could-not-have-existed_1192571.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/giles-foden-24483_allan-poe_detective-fiction-could-not-have-existed_1192571.jpg) > “Detective fiction could not have existed without Edgar Allan Poe.” [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Detective stories owe their origins to Poe's pioneering use of mystery and logical deduction. **In simple terms:** Poe started detective fiction. Key Takeaway Read Poe for genre roots. Themes literature history genre invention Mood educational reflective Type analytical historical When to use this quote - writing courses - literary analysis - genre studies Key Concepts detective narrative literary influence Questions to Reflect On - How did Poe's techniques shape later detectives? - What other early works contributed? A Different Perspective Poe's influence is one among many early mystery writers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Allan poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allan-poe/) [Could](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/could/) [Detective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detective/) [Detective fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detective-fiction/) [Detectives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detectives/) [Edgar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/edgar/) [Edgar Allan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/edgar-allan-354413/) [Existed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existed/) [Existed Edgar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existed-edgar-3544050/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction Existed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-existed-2583916/) [Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poe/) [Without](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/without/) ## Related quotes > [My favorite poem ever was 'Annabel Lee' by Edgar Allan Poe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-lynch/my-favorite-poem-ever-was-annabel-lee-by-edgar-allan-poe/) [Ross Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-lynch/) > [No formal course in fiction-writing can equal a close and observant perusal of the stories of Edgar Allan Poe or Ambrose Bierce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/no-formal-course-in-fiction-writing-can-equal-a-close-and-observant/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/man-you-should-have-seen-them-kicking-edgar-allan-poe/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [“What kind of dark, twisted mind preys on young women? I think it was Poe that said the death of a beautiful woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-crown/what-kind-of-dark-twisted-mind-preys-on-young-women-i-think-it-was/) [Bruce Crown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-crown/) > [“If I could dwell where Israfel hath dwelt and he where I he might not sing so wildly well a mortal melody while a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/if-i-could-dwell-where-israfel-hath-dwelt-and-he-where-i-he-might-not/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [My English teachers gave me a copy of Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' when I left high school, which has always been very special to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-shannon/my-english-teachers-gave-me-a-copy-of-atwood-s-the-handmaid-s-tale/) [Samantha Shannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-shannon/) > [I grew up on Edgar Allen Poe, and I loved Alfred Hitchcock's movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-skiba/i-grew-up-on-edgar-allen-poe-and-i-loved-alfred-hitchcock-s-movies/) [Matt Skiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-skiba/) > [I remember when I was very young, I had a fever - a long rheumatic fever in bed for four months. And in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dario-argento/i-remember-when-i-was-very-young-i-had-a-fever-a-long-rheumatic-fever/) [Dario Argento](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dario-argento/) > [Epilepsy is a disease in the shadows. Patients are often reluctant to admit their condition - even to close family, friends or co-workers -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-resnick/epilepsy-is-a-disease-in-the-shadows-patients-are-often-reluctant-to/) [Lynda Resnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-resnick/) > [“For my part, I love to give myself up to the illusion of poetry. A hero of fiction that never existed is just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/for-my-part-i-love-to-give-myself-up-to-the-illusion-of-poetry-a-hero/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [If I'm too old to be Emo, how do you account for the very Emo and very old Edgar Allan Poe? Checkmate!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/if-i-m-too-old-to-be-emo-how-do-you-account-for-the-very-emo-and-very/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“EDGAR ALLAN POE was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, the second of three children born to actors David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/edgar-allan-poe-was-born-on-january-19-1809-in-boston-the-second-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [If Edgar Allan Poe were alive today, his agent would be constantly slapping him upside the head with tightly rolled copies of his brilliant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/if-edgar-allan-poe-were-alive-today-his-agent-would-be-constantly/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/edgar-allan-poe-was-an-american-poet-short-story-writer-playwright/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [The sky was the color of Edgar Allan Poe's pajamas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-sky-was-the-color-of-edgar-allan-poe-s-pajamas/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) ## More by Giles Foden > [To realise belatedly that there are Swahili epic poems which rival their European equivalents for sweep and power has been exciting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/to-realise-belatedly-that-there-are-swahili-epic-poems-which-rival/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [My father worked in agriculture, and I got to travel round remote rural areas with him and see a bit of the landscape and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/my-father-worked-in-agriculture-and-i-got-to-travel-round-remote/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [In any culture, if information is to maximise in a contextual space, and new meanings be born, the original story has to have substance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/in-any-culture-if-information-is-to-maximise-in-a-contextual-space/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [My father was an agricultural economist. In 1989 he was posted to Mbarara, a small town on the Uganda-Rwanda border.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/my-father-was-an-agricultural-economist-in-1989-he-was-posted-to/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [It's the swirling river of time that makes our identities, not the monochromatic simplicity of skin colour or the definitive lines of international borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/it-s-the-swirling-river-of-time-that-makes-our-identities-not-the/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [You can gesture at the transnational problem of Islamist terrorism all you like, but it's just hot air unless you invest in proper security…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/you-can-gesture-at-the-transnational-problem-of-islamist-terrorism/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [Ordinary Kenyans rightly want to be able to shop safely, and there is a long history of them doing just that, irrespective of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/ordinary-kenyans-rightly-want-to-be-able-to-shop-safely-and-there-is/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [I spent my childhood tinkering with electronic circuits, on breadboards, as they used to be called, in particular making radio transmitters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/i-spent-my-childhood-tinkering-with-electronic-circuits-on/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [Writers such as Richard Powers and the late David Foster Wallace have shown the path to a newer generation of writers for whom all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/writers-such-as-richard-powers-and-the-late-david-foster-wallace-have/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [Foreign students add cultural value to their British peers, who need an international outlook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/foreign-students-add-cultural-value-to-their-british-peers-who-need/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [An important book for our times, in which one woman's determination and refusal to consent sets an example of courage and honesty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/an-important-book-for-our-times-in-which-one-woman-s-determination/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [“... la kuvunda halian ubani. There is no incense for something rotting. And that is the condition of the world. This I know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/la-kuvunda-halian-ubani-there-is-no-incense-for-something-rotting-and/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [In Kenya, crime and terrorism are deeply linked, not least by the failure of successive Kenyan governments to control either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/in-kenya-crime-and-terrorism-are-deeply-linked-not-least-by-the/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [Suffering produces a recursion to the tribe, to one's own kind. When a lot of people suffer, tribes lose their head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/suffering-produces-a-recursion-to-the-tribe-to-one-s-own-kind-when-a/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [Since its beginnings, American writing has been in dialogue with other literatures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/since-its-beginnings-american-writing-has-been-in-dialogue-with-other/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) [Explore all 24 Giles Foden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) ## More Allan poe quotes > [Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/man-you-should-have-seen-them-kicking-edgar-allan-poe/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [ “To me \[Edgar Allan Poe's\] prose is unreadable—like Jane Austin's \[sic\]. No there is a difference. I could read his prose on salary, but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/to-me-edgar-allan-poe-s-prose-is-unreadable-like-jane-austin-s-sic-no/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.” ― Edgar Allan Poe”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/words-have-no-power-to-impress-the-mind-without-the-exquisite-horror/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [ I would say that Edgar Allan Poe, \[Georges\] Perec, Thomas Pynchon, and \[Jorge Luis\] Borges are all boy-writers. These are writers who take... a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-would-say-that-edgar-allan-poe-georges-perec-thomas-pynchon-and/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [The sky was the color of Edgar Allan Poe's pajamas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-sky-was-the-color-of-edgar-allan-poe-s-pajamas/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“EDGAR ALLAN POE was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, the second of three children born to actors David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/edgar-allan-poe-was-born-on-january-19-1809-in-boston-the-second-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“Edgar Allan Poe called it “the imp of the perverse,” that willful, self-destructive voice within that impels us to do things or say things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-cashill/edgar-allan-poe-called-it-the-imp-of-the-perverse-that-willful-self/) [Jack Cashill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-cashill/) > [I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/i-am-an-invisible-man-no-i-am-not-a-spook-like-those-who-haunted/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [“Suffice it to say I was compelled to create this group in order to find everyone who is, let's say, borrowing liberally from my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-schmelling/suffice-it-to-say-i-was-compelled-to-create-this-group-in-order-to/) [Sarah Schmelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-schmelling/) > [“And so it is with old HPL: the very model of an 18th century hipster, born decades too late to be one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-so-it-is-with-old-hpl-the-very-model-of-an-18th-century-hipster/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“of Edgar Allan Poe’s 1841 classic “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” may have been history’s first behavioral profiler.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-e-douglas/of-edgar-allan-poe-s-1841-classic-the-murders-in-the-rue-morgue-may/) [John E. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-e-douglas/) > [“Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/edgar-allan-poe-was-an-american-poet-short-story-writer-playwright/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“The Rough Beast snorted. “You don’t get it at all, buddy. It’s not about wrestling. It’s about stories. We’re storytellers.” Caperton studied him. “Somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-lipsyte/the-rough-beast-snorted-you-don-t-get-it-at-all-buddy-it-s-not-about/) [Sam Lipsyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-lipsyte/) > [“Wasn't he the one who sliced off his ear and mailed it to his girlfriend?" "Van Gogh," said Varen, in a monotone that suggested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-creagh/wasn-t-he-the-one-who-sliced-off-his-ear-and-mailed-it-to-his/) [Kelly Creagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-creagh/) > [“To the Greeks this problem of the conditions of poetic production, and the places occupied by either spontaneity or self-consciousness in any artistic work,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/to-the-greeks-this-problem-of-the-conditions-of-poetic-production-and/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) [Browse all 71 Allan poe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allan-poe/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Detective fiction could not have existed without Edgar Allan Poe.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Giles Foden" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/detective-fiction-could-not-have-existed-without-edgar-allan-poe/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Allan poe" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/detective-fiction-could-not-have-existed-without-edgar-allan-poe/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/giles-foden-24483_allan-poe_detective-fiction-could-not-have-existed_1192571.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/giles-foden-24483_allan-poe_detective-fiction-could-not-have-existed_1192571.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/giles-foden-24483_allan-poe_detective-fiction-could-not-have-existed_1192571.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Detective fiction could not have existed without Edgar Allan Poe.” — Giles Foden", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Giles Foden", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Detective fiction could not have existed...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/detective-fiction-could-not-have-existed-without-edgar-allan-poe/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/detective-fiction-could-not-have-existed-without-edgar-allan-poe/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```