Moby-Dick, Or, The Whale

Moby-Dick, or, The Whale by Herman Melville is the great American novel — a work of such ambition, strangeness, and power that it redefines what a novel can be. Captain Ahab’s obsessive pursuit of the white whale that took his leg is the central narrative, but Melville surrounds it with encyclopaedic digressions on cetology, philosophy, theology, race, and the nature of evil — creating a text that simultaneously is and means far more than any summary can convey. First published in 1851, Moby-Dick was largely ignored in Melville’s lifetime and is now considered among the two or three greatest works in American literature. This Vintage edition presents the complete text in a format worthy of its status. Essential for any serious library, and a book that rewards every reader with a fresh experience of what fiction can attempt.