1819–1891 · New York City · also known as Melville
Herman Melville went to sea on a whaler at 21, jumped ship in the Marquesas and turned his adventures into bestsellers such as Typee (1846). Then he wrote Moby-Dick (1851) — Captain Ahab’s obsessive hunt for the white whale, mixed with philosophy, comedy and whaling lore — and it flopped. He spent nineteen years as a New York customs inspector and died almost forgotten; in the 1920s critics rediscovered him, and Moby-Dick is now a strong candidate for the Great American Novel. Don’t miss the short “Bartleby, the Scrivener.”
Begin with Bartleby, the Scrivener.
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Herman Melville went to sea on a whaler at 21, jumped ship in the Marquesas and turned his adventures into bestsellers such as Typee (1846). Then he wrote Moby-Dick (1851) — Captain Ahab’s obsessive hunt for the white whale, mixed with philosophy, comedy and whaling lore — and it flopped.
Moby-Dick is usually considered Herman Melville’s best-known work, followed by Bartleby, the Scrivener, Typee, Billy Budd.
Most readers start with Bartleby, the Scrivener.
Both refer to the same writer.
Yes — 1 of Herman Melville’s books are free to read online in Pagine, the free e-reader and reading tracker.