Moby Dick

Herman Melville (1819-1891) was an American author and poet. His writing was often inspired by his youthful experiences at sea and his first books, Typee and Omoo were autobiographical and well received. His later writings, notably Moby Dick, were less successful from both monetary and critical standpoints and his work had little standing at the time of his death. The first decades of the 20th century saw the beginning of a dramatic reevaluation of Melville's work and it is now justly acclaimed as a landmark in American letters.