Herman had often walked these streets, eyeing the forest of tall ships, their blackened strakes handsomely curved, masts like crosses, empty of sails . . .

1841. A young Herman Melville is yet to write Moby Dick. He sets out on a voyage aboard a whaling ship. What happens on that trip will give him enough material for a lifetime of writing.

But what of the dark things Melville encounters on his journey, and the illicit relationships he embarks upon that are to torment him once he returns home to his wife Lizzie? All is revealed as Jay Parini lifts the lid on one of the greatest writers of the nineteenth century . . .

The story of an American literary giant's extraordinary life from the author of The Last Station

About the Author
Jay Parini is Axinn Professor of English at Middlebury College, Vermont. His six novels also include Benjamins Crossing and The Apprentice Lover. His volumes of poetry include The Art of Subtraction: New and Selected Poems. In addition to biographies of John Steinbeck, Robert Frost and William Faulkner, he has written a volume of essays on literature and politics, as well as The Art of Teaching. He edited the Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature and writes regularly for the Guardian and other publications.

Reviews
This novel powerfully conveys the allure of the sea, and of the ships that do battle with its creatures. And Parini's evocation of Melville's relationships is moving... In his dealings with his wife, his friend Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the young men who people his story, he becomes a tragic figure, finally rendered heroic by his capacity to feel. * * Observer * *
Parini's eminently readable narrative convincingly fills in hitherto dark places. [This novel] will not replace the standard biographies; it will, however, add flesh to their bones. -- John Sutherland * * Financial Times * *
[A] compelling novel...What is most rewarding about this richly detailed book is Parini's ability to frame a story of heroic faiure with the knowedge that its subject will one day triumph. -- Stephen Amidon * * Sunday Times * *
Parini's novel is a bravura and often engrossing attempt to blend the disparate strands of Melville's art and life in two perspectives. -- Philip Hoare * * Guardian * *
A thrilling tale... [Parini] has the knack for finding just the right phrase. ... There is much to admire in this novel. * * Independent on Sunday * *
Who would have thought it would have taken until now, the twenty-first century, to get a clear view of America's most mysterious novelist, Herman Melville? We have it now, through the magic of Jay Parini's superior novel. -- Gore Vidal
Parini, a poet, biographer and literary critic as well as a novelist, can write with admirable lyric intensity. * * Scotsman * *
In fiction and biography, Jay Parini has brought to life Tolstoy, Frost, Faulkner, Benjamin, and Steinbeck. Now he has added Herman Melville to that remarkable pantheon, and the tale is surprising, insightful, and deeply moving. Melville has never seemed more alive to me - and more human. -- Chris Bohjalian, author of Secrets of Eden, The Double Bind, and Midwives
Once again Jay Parini has taken us in literary imagination, cultural history, and biography through his ingenious fiction. In elegant and moving prose, Parini opens up Melville..... A novel of startling and inventive journeys, and no reader will come away from it seeing Melville the same. -- Peter Balakian, author of Black Dog of Fate
Jay Parini, against all odds, captures his white whale of a subject and then frees him for us to behold. [He] re-animates Melville to startling effect: the creator walks as a character; the genius turns back into a husband; imperishable literature springs from the accidents of life. -- Tom Mallon, author of Fellow Travelers and Henry and Clara
Powerfully conveys the allure of the sea, and of the ships that do battle with its creatures. And Parini's evocation of Melville's relationships is moving. * * Observer * *
Not only is it well written, it's profoundly affecting. * * The Herald * *
Engaging and sympathetic. * * Literary Review * *
Jay Parini is America's foremost biographical novelist, having tackled subjects as challenging as Tolstoy and the German philosopher Walter Benjamin. Now, with Herman Melville, he takes on his most elusive subject to date. * * Sunday Times * *
Parini's novel is a bravura and often engrossing attempt to blend the disparate strands of Melville's art and life. * * Saturday Guardian * *
Eminently readable . . . very well done. * * Financial Times * *
Parini is a master of this genre . . . i would not be surprised to find a US director snapping up this high-spirited account of a tumultuous life and turning it into pure cinematic gold. * * Observer * *
Compelling . . . in this remarkable novel, Parini certainly takes us to places where a conventional biographer cannot go and he conjures up a memorable portrait of the writer as troubled outsider. * * BBC History Magazine * *
Lizzie's alternating chapters are psychologically acute...Parini's ability to bring to life a spouse who has all but disappeared from literary history is the major strength of this novel. * * Edinburgh Review * *



Book Information
ISBN 9781847679802
Author Jay Parini
Format Paperback
Page Count 464
Imprint Canongate Books
Publisher Canongate Books
Weight(grams) 313g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 28mm