Student Companion to Herman Melville

Student Companion to Herman Melville provides a critical introduction to the life and literary works of Herman Melville the nineteenth-century American author of Moby-Dick as well as nine other novels and numerous short stories and poems. In addition to providing an overview of Melville''s life in relation to his literary works the book places his writings within their historical and cultural contexts and then examines each of his major works fully at the level of the nonspecialist and generalist reader. The chapters that address major works by Melville feature close readings of the literary texts that include analysis of point of view setting plot characters symbolism themes and historical contexts when appropriate. In addition the four chapters devoted to individual novels as well as the chapter on Melville''s poetry feature alternate readings to introduce the reader to postcolonial feminist genre reader response and deconstructionist approaches to literary criticism. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography that includes lists of Melville''s published works biographies contemporary reviews and recent critical studies.-Early Narratives from Typee to White Jacket -Moby Dick -Pierre -The Piazza Tales -Other magazine tales: I and My Chimney The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids and Israel Potter -The Confidence-Man -Poetry including