Aug. 1 is Herman Melville’s 200th birthday, an occasion likely to spark less excitement than we “Moby-Dick” fans might want, but perhaps plenty for those who find the book impenetrable (assuming ...

Not until the early 20th century was Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick first recognized as a literary masterpiece and touted as a cornerstone of modern American literature. Etching of Joseph O.

Herman Melville’s (1819-1891) “Lightening Rod Man” was, according to the Library of America, “perhaps the most widely read of his stories during his lifetime and the only one that remained in print ...

This week, we celebrate novelist Herman Melville’s 200th birthday. Melville’s best-known novel “Moby Dick” posthumously rose to fame as a literary masterpiece in the early 20th century. Melville was ...

Robert Faggen is the Barton Evans and H. Andrea Neves professor of literature at Claremont McKenna College. He is the editor of the forthcoming "Selected Poems of Herman Melville." A few days after ...

Along with so many, I was first subjected to “Moby-Dick” when I was still a teenager, being forced to read it as part of an American literature survey course. I was not a fan of it– I certainly could ...

In an earlier post, I described Abraham Lincoln’s struggles with depression to introduce the topic of the possible relationship of depression to achievement. In this two-part post, we’ll consider the ...

An article in our pages in 1919 helped rescue the long-deceased scribe from obscurity and secured him a prominent place in the American canon. Creative Commons By signing up, you confirm that you are ...

In an earlier post, I described Abraham Lincoln’s struggles with depression to introduce the topic of the possible relationship of depression to achievement. In this two-part post, we’ll consider the ...