Monumental Melville The Formation of a Literary Career [Hardcover]

Monumental Melvilleoffers the first extended analysis of Melville's career to read his prose and the poetry that followed it as a legible sequence in a writing life. When Melville turned to poetry at mid-career, he deliberately abandoned the conventions of fiction and the shared public world they imply.Monumental Melvillefocuses first on the way Melville's growing disdain for fame of the literary sort informsMoby-Dickand Melville's later fiction, then goes on to offer close readings of his published verse, exposing a poetics of double-dealing based on an ironic interplay between the text and the contexts it allusively arouses. Countering the historical and political approaches that have marked Melville scholarship for the last two decades, the book emphasizes the significance of the literary to Melville and the essential role of close reading in understanding his work. By revealing and celebrating the form that makes Melville's poetry uniqueand a logical development from his fictionMonumental Melvillemakes a fundamental contribution to the new scholarly recognition of its value and importance.Monumental Melvilleemphasizes the significance of the literary to Melville and the need for close reading in understanding his work. By revealing and celebrating the form that makes Melville's poetry uniqueand a logical development from the fictionMonumental Melvillemakes a vital contribution to the new scholarly recognition of its value and importance.Edgar Dryden is Professor of English at the University of Arizona and editor ofArizona Quarterly