Herman melville biography moby dick

novel by American writer Herman Melville

"Moby Dick" redirects here. For other uses, see Moby Dick (disambiguation).

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is an epicnovel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling shipPequod, for vengeance against Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that bit off his leg on the ship's previous voyage.

A contribution to the literature of the American Renaissance, Moby-Dick was published to mixed reviews, was a commercial failure, and was out of print at the time of the author's death in Its reputation as a Great American Novel was established only in the 20th century, after the centennial of its author's birth.

William Faulkner said he wished he had written the book himself,^[1] and D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world" and "the greatest book of the sea ever written".^[2]