Herman Melville author photo

Herman Melville

Né(e): August 01, 1819 – New York City, New York, United States

Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet whose work explored obsession, fate, religion, and life at sea. He is best known for Moby-Dick, along with “Bartleby, the Scrivener” and Billy Budd. Though underrecognized in his lifetime, he later became a central figure in American literature.

Biographie et Parcours de l'Auteur

Herman Melville was born in New York City on August 1, 1819, into a merchant family whose fortunes fell sharply after the death of his father in 1832. The financial instability that followed cut short his formal education and pushed him into a series of practical occupations, including bank clerk, schoolteacher, and farm laborer. Those early disruptions shaped both his social awareness and his appetite for experience beyond conventional middle-class life. In 1839 he first went to sea, and in 1841 he joined the whaling ship Acushnet, a decision that became the central turning point of his life. His Pacific travels, desertion, and encounters with island cultures gave him the material that launched his literary career.

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Citations

quote
Call me Ishmael
-Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale
quote
It is not down in any map; true places never are
-Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale
quote
Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian
-Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale
quote
To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme
-Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale
quote
I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing
-Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale
quote
I would prefer not to
-Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street
quote
Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!
-Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street
quote
The Past is the text-book of tyrants; the Future the Bible of the Free
-White-Jacket; Or, The World on a Man-of-War

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Voix de la Communauté

"Herman Melville was briefly famous in his lifetime as the writer of adventure novels such as Typee and Omoo"

Britannica

"Herman Melville, an influential American novelist, is renowned for his complex works, particularly 'Moby Dick."

EBSCO Research

"Of all the extraordinary books from the pen of Herman Melville this is out and out the most extraordinary"

John Bull

"Celebrated American author Herman Melville wrote 'Moby-Dick' and several other sea-adventure novels before turning to poetry later in his literary career"

Biography

"It was Herman Melville who made the most enduring use of the Essex story"

PBS

"Herman Melville's last and best and most wildly imaginative story"

Illustrated London News

"Herman Melville, the last great enigma of American literature"

The Guardian

"Herman Melville turns out to be the big one that almost got away"

The Washington Post

"Herman Melville is a towering figure in American literature—arguably the country's greatest nineteenth-century writer"

UGA Press

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@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC
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@Chloe, Solo founder, LA
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"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."

@Raaaaaachelw
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"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum
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@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC
platform
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254
likes
17

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore
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star
star
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@Pitiful
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@SofiaP
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@Jaded_Falcon
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@OojasSalunke
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