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In this collection readers will find three of Herman Melville's most popular shorter works, «Benito Cereno», «Bartleby: The Scrivener», and «The Encantadas». Considered to be one of Melville's best short stories, «Benito Cereno» is a tale of the revolt aboard a Spanish ship. «Bartleby: The Scrivener» is a moral allegory set on Wall Street in New York. And «The Encantadas» are a collection of sketches based on Melville's experiences in the Galapagos Islands.

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Early American writer Herman Melville is best known for his great American novel «Moby Dick.» However, Melville was also a prolific and honest short story writer. His stories play with irony, twisting the fates of his protagonists and making sure that the reader is left with a deep sense of wonder and enlightenment. Many of his works are set from an «outsider's» perspective of immigrants in early America, which is interesting considering that Melville was an American. Yet in the 1800's, many Americans were still struggling to find their identities. Some were recent immigrants, and others were trying to catch up with the changing times and moralities. America was becoming more obsessed with wealth and status, leaving very little room for those that were not able to make it to the top. Innocence was lost in America, and Melville wanted to give those lost souls a voice with his works. With stories like «Bartleby: The Scrivener, A Story of Wall-Street» and «Billy Budd, Foretopman,» Melville gave the stereotypical impersonal American a relatable face for his audience. He did not receive much praise during his own time. However, now Melville is praised as an early American philosopher of theoretical and political subjects due to the 20th century «Melville Revival.» His mix of styles may seem difficult, but his mastery speaks to the genius that is Melville.

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“Moby-Dick; or, The Whale” is an 1851 novel written by American author Herman Melville. The story is told by Ishmael, a sailor aboard a whaling ship captained by Ahab who embarks on an obsessive quest for revenge against a giant sperm whale that bit off his leg on a previous voyage. Originally receiving mixed reviews, “Moby Dick” was a failure when first published and was no longer in print when Melvillie died in 1891. Today, however, it is considered a “Great American Novel” known the world over. “Moby-Dick; or, The Whale” is highly recommended for all lovers of literature and deserves a place on every bookshelf. Herman Melville (1819–1891) was an American short story writer, poet, and novelist during the American Renaissance period. Other notable works by this author include: “Typee” (1846), «Bartleby, the Scrivener» (1853), and “The Encantadas” (1854). Read & Co. Classics is republishing this classic novel now complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

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In 1797, young Billy Budd is impressed into naval service. It is a perilous time for a British Royal Navy still reeling from mutinies and marauding French ships. When Billy is forcibly transferred to HMS Bellipotent, he evokes the wrath of John Claggart, the ship's Master-at-arms. Claggart falsely accuses Billy of conspiracy to mutiny, a charge that will have a profound effect on the fates of both seamen.

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Bartleby is a kind of clerk, a copyist, «who obstinately refuses to go on doing the sort of writing demanded of him.» During the spring of 1851, Melville felt similarly about his work on Moby Dick. Thus, Bartleby can be seen to represent Melville's frustration with his own situation as a writer, and the story itself is «about a writer who forsakes conventional modes because of an irresistible preoccupation with the most baffling philosophical questions.» Bartleby can also be seen to represent Melville's relation to his commercial, democratic society.

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Moby-Dick; or, The Whale (1851) is a novel by Herman Melville considered an outstanding work of Romanticism and the American Renaissance. Ishmael narrates the monomaniacal quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, a white whale which on a previous voyage destroyed Ahab's ship and severed his leg at the knee. Although the novel was a commercial failure and out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891, its reputation as a Great American Novel grew during the twentieth century. William Faulkner confessed he wished he had written it himself, and D. H. Lawrence called it «one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world», and «the greatest book of the sea ever written». «Call me Ishmael» is one of world literature's most famous opening sentences.

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This comprehensive eBook presents the complete works or all the significant works – the Œuvre – of this famous and brilliant writer in one ebook – 9800 pages easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate: • Moby Dick; Or, The Whale • Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street • The Piazza Tales • The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade • Typee: A Romance of the South Seas • Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War • Moby Dick; Or, The Whale • White Jacket; Or, The World on a Man-of-War • Pierre; or The Ambiguities • Omoo: Adventures in the South Seas • Redburn. His First Voyage • Typee • I and My Chimney • Mardi: and A Voyage Thither • Israel Potter • John Marr and Other Poems • I and my Chimney • Typee • Omoo: Adventures in the South Seas • THE PIAZZA • BARTLEBY • BENITO CERENO • THE LIGHTNING-ROD MAN • THE ENCANTADAS • THE BELL-TOWER • Introductory Note • John Marr And Other Poems • JOHN MARR AND OTHER SAILORS • BRIDEGROOM DICK • TOM DEADLIGHT JACK ROY • Sea Pieces • THE HAGLETS • THE AEOLIAN HARP • TO THE MASTER OF THE «METEOR» • FAR OFF SHORE • THE MAN-OF-WAR HAWK • THE FIGURE-HEAD • THE GOOD CRAFT «SNOW BIRD» • OLD COUNSEL • THE TUFT OF KELP • THE MALDIVE SHARK • TO NED • CROSSING THE TROPICS • THE BER • THE ENVIABLE ISLES • PEBBLES • Poems From Timoleon • LINES TRACED UNDER AN IMAGE OF AMOR THREATENING • THE NIGHT MARCH • THE RAVAGED VILLA • THE NEW ZEALOT TO THE SUN • MONODY • LONE FOUNTS • THE BENCH OF BOORS • ART • THE ENTHUSIAST • SHELLEY'S VISION • THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS • THE AGE OF THE ANTONINES • HERBA SANTA • OFF CAPE COLONNA • THE APPARITION • L' ENVOI • Supplement • Poems From Battle Pieces • THE PORTENT • etc.

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Based on Melville's travels in the Society Islands of the South Pacific, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas is told by an unnamed narrator who boards a whaling vessel bound for Tahiti. The narrator becomes involved in a mutiny and afterward is imprisoned on the island of Tahiti. His observations of the island, its way of life and the customs of the natives follow. Omoo” is the sequel to Melville's hugely successful Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life, and was adapted into the 1949 exploitation film Omoo-Omoo, The Shark God.

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Based on Melville's real-life experiences after having jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands, his first novel was extremely popular, provoking public skepticism until the events within were corroborated by a fellow castaway. Typee is properly considered a work of fiction, as the three week stay on which the author based his story is here extended to four months, and the book is supplemented with imaginative reconstruction and adaptation of material from other Pacific exploration books of the time. The title refers to the province of Tai Pi Vai. Typee was Melville's most popular work during his lifetime; making him notorious as the man who lived among the cannibals.

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