And that’s just what he delivered. It's gracefully written and the necessary chronology is layered into the language without the usual plodding of more academic efforts. This biography of Herman Melville does a great job of mixing his personal life with his professional life. First published: 14 April 2007. It conveys the drama of Melville's life and places his accomplishments in context. Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2018. Thus, I was gratified to receive this new book by Andrew Delbanco, "Melville: His Life and Work" (2005) as a gift and to have the opportunity to read it, think again about Melville, and share my thoughts on this site with other readers. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. True to the title of this book, Delbanco spends about equal time discussing Melville and his works, including many lesser known works like “Pierre.” Adequate treatment of “Moby Dick” is included, and two or his masterpieces, “Bartleby the Scrivener” and “Billy Budd” are discussed in detail. While certainly not his intention, Delbanco's terrific book, MELVILLE: HIS WORLD AND HIS WORK, has had the effect of liberating me from second-rate Melville. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Includes bibliographical references and index.. . One of the best biographies I've read in recent years. Certainly he fails utterly with the subject at hand. Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2018. This biography of Herman Melville does a great job of mixing his personal life with his professional life. The grandson of Revolutionary War heroes, Herman Melville was born into a family that in the fledgling republic had lost both money and status. Delbanco is prodigiously well-read and brings out the intertextuality of Melville's work and his vast reading. The man himself, however, keeps disappearing just around the next corner. A fine book. From the bawdy storytelling of Typee to the spiritual preoccupations building up to and beyond Moby Dick, Delbanco brilliantly illuminates Melville's life and work, and his crucial role as a man of American letters.If Dickens was nineteenth-century London personified, Herman Melville was … I would have liked to have seen more on The Confidence Man, but overall, this was a terrific book. Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2021. Delbanco places these early works, rarely read today except by committed students of Melville, … . Be the first to review this item. Even if you have read very little of Melville (or perhaps only seen the movie of Moby Dick) this book will grab your attention. Unlike one other reviewer I was not troubled by the long quotations. It conveys the drama of Melville's life and places his accomplishments in context. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. By Andrew Delbanco. I highly recommend it. Please try your request again later. . Melville: His World and Work Paperback – January 1, 2006 by Andrew Delbanco (Author) It does seem like the book veers away from its subject in a mild way here and there, but that's of necessity. From the bawdy storytelling of Typee to the spiritual preoccupations building up to and beyond Moby Dick, Delbanco brilliantly illuminates Melville’s life and work, and his crucial role as … It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Please try again. The importance of the Whaling Industry.... until oil was discovered in PA! Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! And the assurance with which Americans assumed their right to manifest destiny with only a growing number of dissenters... regarding the superiority of "civilization" and conversion to Christianity. Please try again. He understands Melville's erotic response to other cultures (in his nonfiction especially) as a revolutionary response to oppressive times.I highly recommend this book. 0375403140 - Melville: His World and Work by Delbanco, Andrew - AbeBooks Delbanco smoothly integrates passages from Melville’s novels and stories into the text. This has happened because Delbanco describes the work in Melville's oeuvre in relation to the masterworks. London: Picador, 2005, xxx + 415 pp. Starting with skimpy material that leaves lots of blank spots in the record, Andrew Delbanco has managed to make a lively, intelligent, and readable book that feels complete and satisfying. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. Delbanco's Study Of Herman Melville. Sign Up Now! It's sent me back to reading Melville, who I read regularly with Shakespeare, Homer and Dante. I remember reading about his life and finding it interesting. Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2013. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free. ANDREW DELBANCO's approach in this biography particularly suits me as I am an American Studies alum from George Washington University... and I love the way Delbanco "grounds" Melville's life & work in what was going on at the time in America. I would say the author has done as well as possible making a biography out of someone whose life is little known. Samuel Otter. £25.00 (£9.99 pbk)/$30.00 ($16.00 pbk)., Literature and Theology , Volume 20, Issue 3, September 2006, Pages 335–338, https://doi.org/10.1093/litthe/frl036 He also covers Melville's sexuality and other areas too often shied away from by other biographers. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Herman Melville (born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. The book is a hodge-podge of biographical fragments, simpleminded psychologizing, and facile literary criticism. Melville: His World and Work by ANDREW DELBANCO New York: Random House, 2005. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. Particularly good on Melville's life, or what we know of it, and on Moby Dick, Bartleby, Benito Cereno,and Billy Budd. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2021, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. 17,500 first printing. While certainly not his intention, Delbanco's terrific book, MELVILLE: HIS WORLD AND HIS WORK, has had the effect of liberating me from second-rate Melville. I studied Melville years ago in graduate school and loved the course. If Dickens was nineteenth-century London personified, Herman Melville was the quintessential American. Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2017. With a historian’s perspective and a critic’s insight, award-winning author Andrew Delbanco marvelously demonstrates that, Herman Melville: A Biography (Volume 1, 1819-1851), The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War, The Death of Satan: How Americans Have Lost the Sense of Evil, Melville in Love: The Secret Life of Herman Melville and the Muse of Moby-Dick, Moby-Dick (Macmillan Collector's Library), The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy (Dover Occult), The Complete Illustrated Grand Grimoire, Or The Red Dragon: Interlinear Edition, French to English, The Divine Comedy (The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso), Neville Goddard's Interpretation of Scripture: Unlocking The Secrets of The Bible, The Craft: How the Freemasons Made the Modern World, The Neville Collection: All 10 Books by a Modern Master, “Masterful. Unable to add item to List. Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2017. Herman Melville (1819 -- 1893) is one of the writers I have returned to again and again over the course of years. It’s tough to write an interesting biography of an author but Delbanco succeeds admirably. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. I would say the author has done as well as possible making a biography out of someone whose life is little known. Melville: His World and Work View larger image. Overview. I loved this biography. 4 Reviews. I highly recommend it. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. If Dickens was nineteenth-century London personified, Herman Melville was the quintessential American. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Search for more papers by this author. From his masterpieces like Moby Dick, Bartleby the Scrivener, Benito Cereno and Billy Budd to his several failures, I learned a lot not just about the works but the circumstances in which Melville wrote them. He also covers Melville's sexuality and other areas too often shied away from by other biographers. He weaves a synthesis of literary criticism, psychological speculation, and social, cultural, and political history (as well as his own thoughts) into the surviving letters and the scarce biographical details that exist, adding portraits of some of Melville's contemporaries where it helps. Andrew Delbanco rightly points out in his preface to "Melville: His World and Work" … As a retired English teacher who taught Melville, I was looking for a less academic book, much like the recent Thoreau biography (“Henry David Thoreau: A Life”); however, Delbanco’s target market is Melville fans looking for less discussion of the writer’s life and more about what he wrote. Sorry, there was a problem loading this page. While certainly not his intention, Delbanco's terrific book, MELVILLE: HIS WORLD AND HIS WORK, has had the effect of liberating me from second-rate Melville. Very Good, Melville: his world and work. Vintage Books, 2006 - Biography & Autobiography - 415 pages. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. By Andrew Delbanco. Matthew Forrest Lowe, Melville: His World and Work. Melville: His World and Work: Author: Andrew Delbanco: Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2013: ISBN: 030783171X, 9780307831712: Length: 448 pages: Subjects Melville: His World and Work by Andrew Delbanco and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.com. Melville: His World And Work Hardcover – Import, November 4, 2005. by. Melville: His World and Work. xxiii, 415 p. : ill, ports. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Starting with skimpy material that leaves lots of blank spots in the record, Andrew Delbanco has managed to make a lively, intelligent, and readable book that feels complete and satisfying. It also has some straight biography, but it appears Melville's life is surprisingly ill-documented; he did not engage in much personal correspondence and led a fairly reclusive life from the 1850s to his death in 1891. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. I loved this biography. See search results for this author. The "romantic concept" of "the noble savage". Particularly good on Melville's life, or what we know of it, and on Moby Dick, Bartleby, Benito Cereno,and Billy Budd. Andrew Delbanco, winner of the Great Teacher Award from the Society of Columbia Graduates, is the author of College: What it Was, Is, and Should Be (2012), Melville: His World and Work (2005), The Death of Satan (1995), Required Reading: Why Our American Classics Matter Now (1997), The Real American Dream (1999), and The Puritan Ordeal (1989), among other books. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. It's sent me back to reading Melville, who I read regularly with Shakespeare, Homer and Dante. I think it's difficult to reduce Melville to bon mots. Even if you have read very little of Melville (or perhaps only seen the movie of Moby Dick) this book will grab your attention. Vintage Books - Random House; 1st edition (September 12, 2006). Herman Melville: A Biography (Volume 1, 1819-1851), The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War, The Death of Satan: How Americans Have Lost the Sense of Evil, Herman Melville: A Biography (Volume 2, 1851-1891), Moby-Dick (Macmillan Collector's Library), Herman Melville : Pierre, Israel Potter, The Piazza Tales, The Confidence-Man, Tales, Billy Budd (Library of America), Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life (Penguin Classics), The Hitler Conspiracies: The Protocols - The Stab in the Back - The Reichstag Fire - Rudolf Hess - The Escape from the Bunker. Delbanco is prodigiously well-read and brings out the intertextuality of Melville's work and his vast reading. The "romantic concept" of "the noble savage". Describes the work in Melville or the history of American literature, this guy can anything! 'S oeuvre in relation to the masterworks Kindle App fine critic ” – job mixing. 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