American novelist and poet Herman Melville is considered by many to be the finest author his nation has produced. Born in New York in 1819, he achieved recognition as a leader of world literature with his daring stylistic innovations, and his masterpiece Moby-Dick continues to capture the attention of readers around the globe. This fast-paced biography surveys Melville’s major works and tells the compelling story of his unpredictable professional and personal life. Kevin J. Hayes explores the revival of interest in Melville’s work thirty years after his death, coinciding with the aftermath of the First World War and the rise of modernism. He examines the composition and reception of Melville’s works, including his first two books, Typee and Omoo, his more ambitious works, and the short fiction, novels and poetry he wrote during the last forty years of his life. Incorporating a wealth of new information about Melville’s life and the time in which he lived, Hayes offers an engaging introduction to the life of this celebrated but often misunderstood writer.
Format: Paperback / softback
CONTRIBUTORS: Kevin J. Hayes
EAN: 9781780238074
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
PAGES: 248
WEIGHT:
HEIGHT: 200 mm
PUBLISHED BY: Reaktion Books
DATE PUBLISHED: 2017-07-01
CITY:
GENRE: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Literary Figures, LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 19th Century
WIDTH: 130 mm
SPINE:
Book Themes:
United States of America, USA, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, Biography: writers, Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900
A recipient of the George Washington Prize, Kevin J. Hayes lives and writes in Toledo, Ohio. He has published widely on American literature, history and culture, including Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain in Reaktion’s Critical Lives series.