San Antonio College Library

In this analysis of the sea and its meaning in American literature, Bender focuses on Melville, Crane, London, Hemingway, Matthiessen, and 10 lesser-known sea-writers, and demonstrates the continuity and vitality of sea fiction. What he finds most distinctive about American sea fiction is its visionary, often mystical response to the biological world and to man's perceived place in the larger universe. He shows how Melville envisioned the sea as the...

"The nonstop reading of Melville's titanic epic 'Moby Dick' in the setting of New Bedford's Whaling Museum has inspire[d] this fresh look at the novel in light of its most devoted followers. With some trepidation, David Dowling joined the ranks of the Melvillians to participate in the event for the full twenty-five hours. He survived to [tell] the tale of the voyage to the marathon reading that organizes his critical analysis of the novel from its...

Provides a critical reading of the text and includes discussion of the work's influence, historical context, and critical reception in addition to a chronology, bibliography, and index. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that on the ship's previous voyage bit off Ahab's leg at the knee.

This is the first literary history of the United States to explore exclusively the presence of the sea in American writing. A multiauthor work, it covers the periods and genres that make up our national literature as it considers the ubiquity of nautical symbols, images, and figurative language in addition to expressions of the sea experience itself. While this book situates the literature within American history, particularly maritime history, a...