Reading Melville's Pierre; or, The ambiguities / Brian Higgins and Hershel Parker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Higgins, Brian, 1943-

Contributor:

Parker, Hershel.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Melville, Herman, 1819-1891. Pierre.

Melville, Herman.

Physical Description:

ix, 224 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, [2006]

Summary:

This engaging new study uses biographical evidence to explore Pierre, the puzzling novel that Herman Melville wrote immediately after the publication of Moby-Dick. Parker and Higgins reveal that Melville drastically altered the end of the novel after a troubling meeting with his publisher and editor about the perceived failure of Moby-Dick. Melville re-wrote Pierre's protagonist as a writer and used the novel to attack the publishing industry. Parker and Higgins' exploration into Pierre shows that this is a deeply flawed novel, but an intriguing and revealing glimpse into the mind of an American literary giant.

Contents:

1 Toward a Kraken Book 1

2 "This dream-house of the earth": Books I and II 32

3 "The flowing river in the cave of man": Books III-V 57

4 "The manly enthusiast cause'': Books VI-XII 81

5 The Pamphlet and the City: The Kraken Ending 112

6 Cobbling the Harper Pierre: January-February 1852 144

7 Aftermath 175

8 Faltering Recognition 188.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-[217]) and index.

ISBN:

9780807132265

0807132268

OCLC:

70265556