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Melville
His World And Work
by Andrew Delbanco
The noted critic and writer examines the life and times of Moby-Dick author and bane of modern-day high schoolers, Herman Melville (1819-1891).
Knopf, 448 pages
09/20/2005
$30.00
ISBN: 0375403140
Nonfiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Literary Criticism
All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...
Booklist Bryce Christensen
More ambitious than Hardwick's capsule melville in the Penguin Lives series (2000) but less capacious and less psychoanalytical than Robertson-Lorant's landmark 1998 study, this masterful biography approaches the great novelist not through Freudian theories but rather through careful historical scholarship. [1 Sep 2005, p. 41]
Kirkus Reviews
A graceful, sympathetic portrait of a writer all but forgotten in his day, but now seen as central to understanding the American character. [1 Jul 2005, p. 716]
New York Observer Ted Widmer
The finest biography ever written of this essential American. [26 Sep 2005, p. 10]
New York Review Of Books Frederick C. Crews
If any one volume stands a chance of satisfying the lay public without oversimplifying the current state of knowledge, Delbanco's Melville: His World and Work is that book.
San Francisco Chronicle Dan Cryer
It's as though your alma mater's winner of its Outstanding Teacher award were personally escorting you through the Melville maze.
The Guardian Jay Parini
One can hardly imagine a more artful or succinct biography of Herman Melville, one that makes his fiction seem not only relevant but urgent, presenting the familiar facts in a fashion that makes the life and work luminously comprehensible.
Washington Post Michael Dirda
Humane and relevant scholarship at its best.
The New Republic James Wood
Delbanco the professor of literature is interested, of course, in all the ways that the twentieth century has read Melville, and he provides acute, sometimes brilliant, summations of the latest work on Melville and race, Melville and despotism, Melville and Freud, Melville and deconstruction.
The Spectator Caroline Moore
In general, Delbanco shuns the wilder shores of Freudianism. And through the last sections of the biography, the ‘tornadoed Atlantic’ of Melville’s despair does flicker into life.
The Independent Tom Rosenthal
Melville, no matter who construes him or when, is indestructible and will always illuminate our history; as will Delbanco's admirable survey for a generation--until the world turns again and a new interpreter arrives.
The Guardian Anita Sethi
In so rigorously charting the yearnings and failings of a man and nation, Delbanco achieves a curiously satisfying conclusion.
Publishers Weekly
In this accessible account, Delbanco both places the great novelist assuredly in his time and delves into his works' continuing significance. [18 Jul 2005]
Library Journal Ron Ratliff
This is sure to elicit new appreciation for Melville's work and could well be the best one-volume biography for some time to come. [1 Aug 2005, p. 84]
Los Angeles Times Robert Faggen
Delbanco's engaging, comprehensive and well-written biography focuses primarily on Melville's work, asserting its undeniable presence in our literary consciousness as well as our popular culture. [16 Oct 2005]
Boston Globe Glenn C. Altschuler
Writing with grace and authority, [Delbanco makes his subject] come alive.
Chicago Tribune Donald Weber
For those who desire the emotional textures and tones--the elusive feel--of Melville's "dream-self," Delbanco's "Melville," deeply learned yet alive to Melville's particular genius, offers the best place to begin. [6 Nov 2005]
Daily Telegraph Philip Hoare
Constrained by the lack of primary sources (Melville left few letters, and even fewer journals), Delbanco elects to give context to the life and work. He does so with a wonderful and revealing richness of detail.
Daily Telegraph Hilary Spurling
This is a marvellously cogent and compelling account not just of Melville himself, what he saw and what it cost him, but of the long powerful magnetic pull he has exerted on our collective imagination ever since.
The New York Times Book Review Michael Gorra
"Melville: His World and Work" is tight and accessible, and its deep learning floats as lightly as silk in the breeze.
Wall Street Journal Eric J. Sundquist
Given its richness and command... one can only wish that Mr. Delbanco's book were longer, not that it were better.
Houston Chronicle Jim Barloon
Though Delbanco knows Melville and his works well, his cultural critical soundings yield only intermittently perceptive readings of the deep-water-dwelling Melville.
The Nation Vivian Gornick
Delbanco's book is neither reductive nor schematic--it is well written and, more important, strongly engaged--yet it does not, cannot, bring us Melville anew because in the deepest sense it is hemmed in by these very conventions.
 The average user rating for this book is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
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