Herman Melville

Moby Dick Herman Melville

Publisher Marketing: On a previous voyage, a mysterious white whale had ripped off the leg of a sea captain named Ahab. Now the crew of the Pequod, on a pursuit that features constant adventure and horrendous mishaps, must follow the mad Ahab into the abyss to satisfy his unslakeable thirst for vengeance. Narrated by the cunningly observant crew member Ishmael, Moby-Dick is the tale of the hunt for the elusive, omnipotent, and ultimately mystifying white whale-Moby Dick. On its surface, Moby-Dick is a vivid documentary of life aboard a nineteenth-century whaler, a virtual encyclopedia of whales and whaling, replete with facts, legends, and trivia that Melville had gleaned from personal experience and scores of sources. But as the quest for the whale becomes increasingly perilous, the tale works on allegorical levels, likening the whale to human greed, moral consequence, good, evil, and life itself. Who is good? The great white whale who, like Nature, asks nothing but to be left in peace? Or the bold Ahab who, like scientists, explorers, and philosophers, fearlessly probes the mysteries of the universe? Who is evil? The ferocious, man-killing sea monster? Or the revenge-obsessed madman who ignores his own better nature in his quest to kill the beast? Scorned by critics upon its publication, Moby-Dick was publicly derided during its author's lifetime. Yet Melville's masterpiece has outlived its initial misunderstanding to become an American classic of unquestionably epic proportions. Includes unique illustrations 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 was an American novelist, poet, and lecturer best known for his classic novel Moby-Dick, as well as for his short fiction "Bartleby, the Scrivener," and the unfinished "Billy Budd, Sailor." Educated as a teacher and later as an engineer, Melville s writing was heavily influenced by his time aboard the whaling ship Acushnet, and his month-long captivity by Typee natives on Nuka Hiva island. Although Melville experienced success early in his writing career, public indifference to his masterpiece, Moby-Dick, resulted in waning attention, and his work was almost entirely disregarded by the time of this death in 1891. Melville s work experienced a revival in the early twentieth century, and he is now considered one of the pre-eminent American writers of his time. He is also one of the most-studied novelists, and was the first writer to be collected and published by the Library of America.