Jean Giono, Melville
Melville: A Novel by Jean Giono My rating: 4 of 5 stars Twentieth-century French novelist Jean Giono is currently being introduced (or re-introduced by NYRB Classics) to American readers, and … Continue reading
Elizabeth Hardwick, Herman Melville
Herman Melville by Elizabeth Hardwick My rating: 4 of 5 stars A review with, or in, digressions: Elizabeth Hardwick, who died a decade ago at 91, is having a literary … Continue reading
Herman Melville, Benito Cereno
Melville’s Short Novels: Authoritative Texts, Contexts, Criticism by Herman Melville My rating: 5 of 5 stars Benito Cereno is one of the post-Pierre short works of the 1850s by which Melville … Continue reading
Herman Melville, Pierre; or, The Ambiguities
Pierre; or, The Ambiguities by Herman Melville My rating: 4 of 5 stars What was left of Melville’s early audience was killed off by the dreadful Pierre, a year after … Continue reading
Herman Melville, The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids
The Paradise of Bachelors and The Tartarus of Maids by Herman Melville My rating: 5 of 5 stars After re-reading Moby-Dick, I decided to revisit this remarkable short story (or … Continue reading
Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville My rating: 5 of 5 stars [Note: all quotations from essays, letters, and reviews below come from documents included in this Norton Critical Edition.] In his … Continue reading
Charles Johnson, Middle Passage
Middle Passage by Charles Johnson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Middle Passage begins with an audacious sentence, “Of all the things that drive men to sea, the most common … Continue reading
William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens
The Life of Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare My rating: 4 of 5 stars [For Shakespeare’s birth/death day. Also a good day to revisit my essay on Shakespeare’s detractors … Continue reading
Sublimity Listed: Bloom’s 12 American Writers
Harold Bloom has a new book coming out—rather like my grandmother, he’s been falsely prophesying his imminent demise for almost my entire lifetime. Since the end will come for us … Continue reading
Herman Melville, Billy Budd, Sailor
Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville My rating: 5 of 5 stars [Note: I read the version of this book collected in The Norton Anthology of American Literature; I chose … Continue reading
