{"product_id":"an-artist-in-the-rigging-william-b-dillingham-9780820332604","title":"An Artist in the Rigging: The Early Work of Herman Melville","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAn Artist in the Rigging\u003c\/i\u003e is a study of Herman Melville's early novels--\u003ci\u003eTypee\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOmoo\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMardi\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRedburn\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eWhite-Jacket\u003c\/i\u003e. The author considers these fictions from the standpoint of thematic relationship rather than of chronological development. He shows that while the five hero-narrators are separate and distinct entities, they have much in common and can be seen as representing different facets of an emergent composite hero-from the sensitive and restless young man who leaves home to search hungrily for experience, to the wanderer immersed in a deep probing of himself and his world. The hero's thirst for psychological independence--what comes to be his overriding ambition--is never satisfied, and destruction becomes inevitable, culminating in a paradoxical \"apotheosis\" in which the narrator-hero achieves this independence, but only at the expense of his humanity. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDillingham persuasively demonstrates the interrelated qualities of these five novels, and in so doing he shows that the young Melville was a far greater literary artist than he gave himself credit for being. This fiction constitutes a powerful achievement in richness of texture, range of effect, and depth of characterization, as \u003ci\u003eAn Artist in the Rigging\u003c\/i\u003e makes clear.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e William B. Dillingham\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0820332607\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780820332604\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Georgia Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/01\/2008\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 172\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.51lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.41d","brand":"William B. Dillingham","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44120342429951,"sku":"9780820332604","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_7ec1d138-73d7-491d-8a11-367d24b3e59b.jpg?v=1687413806","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/an-artist-in-the-rigging-william-b-dillingham-9780820332604","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}