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Cook has accomplished the most precise, searching, and in-depth investigation of a subject whose importance cannot be overestimated for this particular author. Melville's 'saturation' by the Bible has never before been explored with the exhaustive approach it warrants. This study's extensive documentation alone will serve readers as a valuable resource, and Cook's analysis of scripturally influenced subject matter in Melville's narrative is unprecedented in scope and detail. -- Steven Olsen-Smith, Associate Professor of English at Boise State University and General Editor of Melville's Marginalia Online. Moby-Dick has long been recognized as a landmark in American literary and religious history, but the goal of showing how these aspects of Melville's novel are related has proved elusive. Through an inspired combination of biblical scholarship, comparative religion, intellectual history, and aesthetics with Melville's own patterns of reading and intellectual inquiry, Jonathan Cook's study illuminates brilliantly Moby-Dick 's status as both an exceptionally important artifact in religious history and a superb piece of literary art. Cook's wide-ranging review of the scholarship on Moby-Dick and his clear prose style contribute to making this essential reading for anyone seeking to understand America's most important novel, the religious context from which it emerged, and the history of intellectual engagement it has inspired. --Brian Yothers, Associate Professor of English at the University of Texas at El Paso and author of Melville's Mirrors: Literary Criticism and America's Most Elusive Author

Cook has accomplished the most precise, searching, and in-depth investigation of a subject whose importance cannot be overestimated for this particular author. Melville's 'saturation' by the Bible has never before been explored with the exhaustive approach it warrants. This study's extensive documentation alone will serve readers as a valuable resource, and Cook's analysis of scripturally influenced subject matter in Melville's narrative is unprecedented in scope and detail. -- Steven Olsen-Smith, Associate Professor of English at Boise State University and General Editor of Melville's Marginalia Online. Moby-Dick has long been recognized as a landmark in American literary and religious history, but the goal of showing how these aspects of Melville's novel are related has proved elusive. Through an inspired combination of biblical scholarship, comparative religion, intellectual history, and aesthetics with Melville's own patterns of reading and intellectual inquiry, Jonathan Cook's study illuminates brilliantly Moby-Dick's status as both an exceptionally important artifact in religious history and a superb piece of literary art. Cook's wide-ranging review of the scholarship on Moby-Dick and his clear prose style contribute to making this essential reading for anyone seeking to understand America's most important novel, the religious context from which it emerged, and the history of intellectual engagement it has inspired. --Brian Yothers, Associate Professor of English at the University of Texas at El Paso and author of Melville's Mirrors: Literary Criticism and America's Most Elusive Author

Cook has accomplished the most precise, searching, and in-depth investigation of a subject whose importance cannot be overestimated for this particular author. Melville's 'saturation' by the Bible has never before been explored with the exhaustive approach it warrants. This study's extensive documentation alone will serve readers as a valuable resource, and Cook's analysis of scripturally influenced subject matter in Melville's narrative is unprecedented in scope and detail. -- Steven Olsen-Smith, Associate Professor of English at Boise State University and General Editor of Melville's Marginalia Online. Moby-Dick has long been recognized as a landmark in American literary and religious history, but the goal of showing how these aspects of Melville's novel are related has proved elusive. Through an inspired combination of biblical scholarship, comparative religion, intellectual history, and aesthetics with Melville's own patterns of reading and intellectual inquiry, Jonathan Cook's study illuminates brilliantly Moby-Dick 's status as both an exceptionally important artifact in religious history and a superb piece of literary art. Cook's wide-ranging review of the scholarship on Moby-Dick and his clear prose style contribute to making this essential reading for anyone seeking to understand America's most important novel, the religious context from which it emerged, and the history of intellectual engagement it has inspired. --Brian Yothers, Associate Professor of English at the University of Texas at El Paso and author of Melville's Mirrors: Literary Criticism and America's Most Elusive Author Cook has accomplished the most precise, searching, and in-depth investigation of a subject whose importance cannot be overestimated for this particular author. Melville s saturation by the Bible has never before been explored with the exhaustive approach it warrants. This study s extensive documentation alone will serve readers as a valuable resource, and Cook s analysis of scripturally influenced subject matter in Melville s narrative is unprecedented in scope and detail. -- Steven Olsen-Smith, Associate Professor of English at Boise State University and General Editor of Melville s Marginalia Online. Moby-Dickhas long been recognized as a landmark in American literary and religioushistory, but the goal of showing how these aspects of Melville s novel are related has proved elusive. Through an inspiredcombination of biblical scholarship, comparative religion, intellectual history, and aesthetics with Melville s own patterns of reading and intellectual inquiry, Jonathan Cook s study illuminates brilliantlyMoby-Dick s status as both an exceptionally important artifact in religious history and a superb piece of literary art. Cook s wide-ranging review of the scholarship onMoby-Dickand his clear prose style contribute to making this essential reading for anyone seeking to understand America s most important novel, the religious context from which it emerged, and the history of intellectual engagement it has inspired. --Brian Yothers, Associate Professor of English at the University of Texas at El Paso and author ofMelville s Mirrors: Literary Criticism and America s Most Elusive Author

Author Information

Jonathan A. Cook is author of Satirical Apocalypse. He has published numerous articles and reviews on the writings of Melville, Hawthorne, Poe, Irving, and other nineteenth-century American authors. He lives and teaches in Northern Virginia.

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