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It is an eye-opening experience to recognize that a favored author has a very human, mean-streak as part of his personality evidenced by his works. In Bon-Bon, which was originally named The Bargain Lost, Poe demonstrates just such a trait of being a bit of a douchebag. The Bargain Lost was the fifth story published by The Philadelphia Saturday Courier printed in the December 1, 1831 edition. Poe had submitted five stories for a writing contest, where he did not win, but all of the stories were good enough to get published. Bon-Bon is about a chef who is also a philosopher that gets into an argument with the devil. The story is meant as a satire on the pretentious nature of philosophers, and mentions Plato, Aristophanes, Hippocrates, and Voltaire by name with an epigraph by Shakespeare where even the Bard may be included as part of the targeted. Imagine the sheer audacity of a new-up-and-coming writer tearing into established "sacred cows" and decrying their work as pompous including Shakespeare in the bargain. IMHO, this is what Poe is doing here and in a rather ostentatious way, as well. I enjoyed the narrative on its face, but even more when coupled with the research in order to enhance my understanding. This story fits with my three criteria for a classic: longevity (older than 50 years), paradigm altering (making a mark on he genre), and exceptionalism (Poe raises some eyebrows here with his irreverence toward the giants of philosophy. 4 very ballsy Grey Geeks or 4 stars in GoodReads-speak.