{"product_id":"9781405121903","title":"Herman Melville, 2 Volume Set A Half Known Life","description":"\u003ch1\u003eHerman Melville, 2 Volume Set\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA Half Known Life\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003ch3\u003eJohn Bryant\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eBiography \u0026amp; Autobiography \/ Literary Figures\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA comprehensive exploration of Melville's formative years, providing a new biographical foundation for today's generations of Melville readers\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eHerman Melville: A Half Known Life, Volumes 1 and 2, \u003c\/i\u003efollows Herman Melville's life from early childhood to his astonishing emergence as a bestselling novelist with the publication of \u003ci\u003eTypee\u003c\/i\u003e in 1846. These volumes comprise the first half of a comprehensive biography on Melville, grounded in archival research, new scholarship, and incisive critical readings. Author John Bryant, a distinguished Melville scholar, editor, critic, and educator, traces the events and experiences that shaped the many-stranded consciousness of one of literature’s greatest writers. This in-depth and innovative biography covers Melville's family history and literary friendships, his father-longing, god-hunger, and search for the hidden nature of Being, the genesis of his liberal politics, his empathy for African Americans, Native Americans, Polynesians, South Americans, and immigrants.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOriginal perspectives on Melville’s earliest identities—orphaned son, sibling, farmer, teacher, debater, lover, actor, sailor—provide the context for Melville’s evolution as a writer. The biography presents new information regarding Melville's reading, his early orations and acting experience, his life at sea and on the road, and the unsettling death of his older, rival brother from mercury poisoning. It provides insights on experiences such as Melville's trauma at the loss of his father, his learning to write amidst a coterie siblings, his struggles to find work during economic depression, his journey West, his life in whaling and in the navy, and his vagabondage in the South Pacific during the moment of American and European imperial incursions. A significant addition to Melville scholarship, this important biographical work:\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003eExplores the nature and development of Melville's creative consciousness, through the lens of his revisions in manuscript and print\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eAssesses Melville's sexual growth and exploration of the spectrum of his masculinities\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eHighlights Melville's relevance in contemporary democratic society\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eDiscusses Melville's blending of dark humor and tragedy in his unique version of the picturesque\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eExamines the 'replaying' of Melville's life traumas throughout his entire works, from \u003ci\u003eTypee\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOmoo, Redburn, White-Jacket\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMoby-Dick\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePierre\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eIsrael Potter\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Confidence-Man\u003c\/i\u003e to his shorter works, including \"Bartleby,\" his epic \u003ci\u003eClarel\u003c\/i\u003e, his poetry, and his last novella \u003ci\u003eBilly Budd\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eCovers such cultural and historical events as the American revolution of his grandparents, the whaling industry, New York slavery, street life and theater in Manhattan, the transatlantic slave trade, the Jacksonian economy, Indian removal, Pacific colonialism, and westward expansion\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cp\u003eWritten in an engaging style for scholars and general readers alike, \u003ci\u003eHerman Melville: A Half Known Life, Volumes 1 and 2\u003c\/i\u003e is an indispensable new source of information and insights for those interested in Melville, 19\u003csup\u003eth\u003c\/sup\u003e-century and modern literature and culture, and readers of general American history and literary culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJOHN BRYANT\u003c\/b\u003e is a leading Melville scholar and Professor Emeritus of English at Hofstra University. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eA Companion to Melville Studies\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMelville and Repose, The Fluid Text\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMelville Unfolding\u003c\/i\u003e, and over 70 articles on Melville and related nineteenth-century writers. He is the founder of \u003ci\u003eLeviathan: A Journal of Melville Studies\u003c\/i\u003e, and of the \u003ci\u003eMelville Electronic Library.\u003c\/i\u003e He received the Distinguished Editor Award from Council of Editors of Learned Journals in 2015. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e08 February 2021\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWiley\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWiley-Blackwell\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9781405121903\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHardback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e1392\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWeight (oz): \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e79.2\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Wiley","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44379154251916,"sku":"9781405121903","price":335.66,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/9781405121903_fda33ce3-4466-4956-9c5c-b12028ca8d9f.jpg?v=1780142471","url":"https:\/\/fh90cf-fv.myshopify.com\/products\/9781405121903","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}