Overview

American novelist and poet Herman Melville is considered by many to be the finest author his nation has produced. This book begins by exploring the revival of interest in Melville's work thirty years after his death, which coincided with the aftermath of World War I and the rise of modernism. Hayes examines the composition and reception of Melville's works, including his first two books, Typee and Omoo, his more ambitious works and the novels and short fiction he wrote during the forty years after the publication of Moby-Dick . Hayes examines Melville's poetry, taking the story through the American Civil War, which inspired his first published collection of verse, Battle-Pieces, and how Melville's time in London influenced and inspired his work. Incorporating a wealth of new information about Melville's life and the time in which he lived, Herman Melville  is a concise and engaging introduction to the life of this feted but often misunderstood writer.

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9781780238074

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Reviews

An excellent introduction to the life and work of Herman Melville: well-written, well-presented, and often captivatingly told. -- Leviathan Expertly and fluidly written by Hayes, Herman Melville succinctly encapsulates the life, works, and personality of a relatively elusive figure. Considering the space allotted to him, Hayes superbly dovetails Melville's major life events with his fiction and poetry, enriching the biographical narrative with historical contexts, cultural connections, illustrations, critical quotations, and previously unknown materials. . . . Hayes's volume is a focused and well-contextualized portrait of Melville, as well as an ideal entryway to larger biographical studies. . . . Even the hardened, seen-it-all Melville scholar is likely to learn something new from Herman Melville. -- American Literary Scholarship

an excellent introduction to the life and work of Herman Melville: well-written, well-presented, and often captivatingly told. * Leviathan * Expertly and fluidly written by Kevin J. Hayes, Herman Melville succinctly encapsulates the life, works, and personality of a relatively elusive figure. Considering the space allotted to him, Hayes superbly dovetails Melville’s major life events with his fiction and poetry, enriching the biographical narrative with historical contexts, cultural connections, illustrations, critical quotations, and previously unknown materials . . . Hayes’s volume is a focused and well-contextualized portrait of Melville, as well as an ideal entryway to larger biographical studies . . . Even the hardened, seen-it-all Melville scholar is likely to learn something new from Herman Melville. * American Literary Scholarship *

"""An excellent introduction to the life and work of Herman Melville: well-written, well-presented, and often captivatingly told.""-- ""Leviathan"" ""Expertly and fluidly written by Hayes, Herman Melville succinctly encapsulates the life, works, and personality of a relatively elusive figure. Considering the space allotted to him, Hayes superbly dovetails Melville's major life events with his fiction and poetry, enriching the biographical narrative with historical contexts, cultural connections, illustrations, critical quotations, and previously unknown materials. . . . Hayes's volume is a focused and well-contextualized portrait of Melville, as well as an ideal entryway to larger biographical studies. . . . Even the hardened, seen-it-all Melville scholar is likely to learn something new from Herman Melville.""-- ""American Literary Scholarship"""

Author Information

A recipient of the George Washington Prize, Kevin J. Hayes lives and writes in Toledo, Ohio. He has published widely on American literature, history and culture, including Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain in Reaktion’s Critical Lives series.

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