
In this study of Herman Melville's life & thought, the author primarily relied on Melville's own writings, including his letters & some of his notebooks. This work is singularly complete in that part of Melville which most matters: his ideas, his feelings, his urges, his vision of life. Wherever possible, the author uses Melville's own language in describing his state of mind & experience. This is a wonderful biography of the man who is considered the greatest imaginative writer that America has produced, not to mention the author of "Moby Dick."