Herman Melville

Moby Dick: or the Whale Herman Melville

Publisher Marketing: Welcome to the world of Mogul Classics Books. In this novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, we are proud to offer you the best edition of this classic, one of the most loved and timeless stories of all times. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is a novel by Herman Melville, in which Ishmael narrates the monomaniacal quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler Pequod, for revenge on the albino sperm whale Moby Dick, which on a previous voyage destroyed Ahab's ship and severed his leg at the knee. The product of a year and a half of writing, the book draws on Melville's own whaling experience, on his reading in whaling literature, and on literary inspirations such as Shakespeare and the Bible. The detailed and realistic descriptions of whale hunting and the process of extracting whale oil, as well as life aboard ship among a culturally diverse crew, are mixed with exploration of class and social status, good and evil, and the existence of God. In addition to narrative prose, Melville uses a wide range of styles and literary devices ranging from songs, poetry and catalogs to Shakespearean stage directions, soliloquies, and asides. The author changed the title at the very last moment in September 1851, and so the work first appeared as The Whale in London in October 1851, and then under its definitive title Moby-Dick in New York in November. The British edition of five hundred copies was not reprinted during the author's life, the American of almost three thousand was reprinted three times at approximately 250 copies, the last reprinting in 1871. These figures are exaggerated because three hundred copies were destroyed in a fire at Harper's; only 3,200 copies were actually sold during the author's life. A commercial failure and out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891, its reputation grew immensely during the twentieth century. According to D. H. Lawrence, it is "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world," and "the greatest book of the sea ever written." Dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne, "in token of my admiration for his genius," Moby-Dick is considered a Great American Novel and an outstanding work of the Romantic Period in America, a period also known as the American Renaissance. "Call me Ishmael," is one of world literature's most famous opening sentences. As you read this Mogul Classics Books edition of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, you will relive one of the most acclaimed novels of all times. Review Citations: Newsweek 04/06/2009 pg. 12 (EAN 9781420931853, Paperback) Voice of Youth Advocates 12/01/2009 (EAN 9780763642136, Paperback) Criticas 01/01/2009 pg. 1 (EAN 9788496778917, Hardcover) School Library Journal 11/01/2009 pg. 55 (EAN 9789626340264, Compact Disc) Library Journal 02/15/2007 pg. 159 (EAN 9780205514083, Paperback) - *Starred Review School Library Journal 05/01/2007 pg. 166 (EAN 9780764159770, Hardcover) Newsweek 12/08/2008 pg. 14 (EAN 9780321228000, Paperback) Kliatt 07/01/2006 pg. 50 (EAN 9780792739814, Compact Disc) Booklist 11/01/2006 pg. 44 (EAN 9780763630188, Hardcover) School Library Journal 04/01/2007 pg. 142 (EAN 9780763630188, Hardcover) Wilson Middle/Junior Hi Catalo 01/01/2007 pg. 143 (EAN 9780763630188, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2007 pg. 350 (EAN 9780763630188, Hardcover) Ingram Advance 09/01/2005 pg. 168 (EAN 9789626343586, Compact Disc) School Library Journal 12/01/2005 pg. 85 (EAN 9789626343586, Compact Disc) Kliatt 01/01/2006 pg. 48 (EAN 9789626343586, Compact Disc) Library Journal 02/01/2003 (EAN 9780736688918, Analog Audio Cassette) Library Journal 11/15/2003 pg. 103 (EAN 9780486432151, Paperback) Publishers Weekly 10/14/2002 pg. 84 (EAN 9780618265725, Paperback) School Library Journal 12/01/2002 pg. 150 (EAN 9780618265725, Paperback) Voice of Youth Advocates 02/01/2003 pg. 482 (EAN 9780618265725, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2002 pg. 85 (EAN 9780618265725, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2003 pg. 85 (EAN 9780618265725, Paperback) Ingram Advance 10/01/1999 pg. 280 (EAN 9781569945056, Analog Audio Cassette) School Library Journal 10/01/1999 (EAN 9781569945056, Analog Audio Cassette) Newsweek 12/03/2007 pg. 20 (EAN 9780553213119, Mass Market Paperbound) Christian Century 10/21/2008 pg. 31 (EAN 9780553213119, Mass Market Paperbound) Entertainment Weekly 07/05/2013 pg. 97 (EAN 9780553213119, Mass Market Paperbound) Entertainment Weekly 10/25/2013 pg. 103 (EAN 9780553213119, Mass Market Paperbound) Kirkus Reviews 06/01/2010 (EAN 9789380028224, Paperback) Booklist 07/01/2010 pg. 52 (EAN 9789380028224, Paperback) Newsweek 03/17/2008 pg. 14 (EAN 9780192833853, Paperback) Contributor Bio:  Melville, Herman Herman Melville (1819-1891), novelist and poet, was born in New York City. Working with Romantic materials of primitivism, individualism, nature and the Gothic, Melville produced a body of fiction that analyzed reality in both its social and metaphysical dimensions. He is best known for his masterpiece, Moby Dick.