Waubonsee Community College

Herman Melville, David Kirby

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-186) and index

individual biography

index present

non fiction

Herman Melville

bibliography

27897227

David Kirby

Literature and life. American writers

This book is neither strictly a critical analysis nor precisely a biography. Instead, it might be considered the biography of a career. Melville was born in New York City in 1819. When he died in 1891 (he is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx), he was virtually forgotten by the public. The author of Moby-Dick, Pierre, Redburn, White-Jacket, The Confidence-Man, Typee, Omoo, Billy Budd (the last-named work not published till 1924), and other masterpieces of American literature worked in virtual obscurity as a customs inspector for some twenty years during the latter part of his life. It was the posthumous publication of Billy Budd that set off the so-called Melville renaissance. (Even Moby-Dick did not generally receive significant serious recognition before this time.). Though Melville's life and career followed an unusual path, his work has had an unprecedented impact on American letters and the American imagination. Perhaps this is due to his concentration on the quintessential American character of the drifter. By examining the writer's entire career - including tales and poems - David Kirby takes the reader far into Melville's world. With this book we come away with a greater understanding and appreciation of Herman Melville than ever