{"product_id":"melville-hershel-parker-9780810124646","title":"Melville: The Making of the Poet","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Who would have looked for philosophy in whales, or for poetry in blubber?\" the London \u003ci\u003eJohn Bull\u003c\/i\u003e remarked in October of 1851. And yet, the reviewer went on, \"few books which professedly deal in metaphysics, or claim the parentage of the muses, contain as much true philosophy and as much genuine poetry as the tale of the \u003ci\u003ePequod\u003c\/i\u003e's whaling expedition.\" A decade and a half before surprising the world with a book of Civil war poetry, Melville was already confident of what was \"poetic\" in his prose. As Hershel Parker demonstrates in this book, Melville was steeped in poetry long before he called himself a poet. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHere Parker, the dean of Melville studies, gives a compelling, in-depth account of how one of America's greatest writers grew into the vocation of a poet. His work corrects two of the most pernicious misconceptions about Melville perpetuated by earlier critics: that he repudiated fiction writing after \u003ci\u003ePierre\u003c\/i\u003e, and that he hadn't begun writing poetry (let alone had a book of poems ready for publication) as early as 1860. In clearing up these misapprehensions, Parker gives a thorough and thoroughly involving account of Melville's development as a poet. Parker demonstrates for the first time just how crucial poetry was to Melville from childhood to old age, especially its re-emergence in his life after 1849. Drawing on Melville's shrewd annotations of great British poets and on his probing, skeptical engagement with commentaries on poetry (particularly by the great Scots reviewers), Parker paints a richly textured portrait of a hitherto unseen side of Herman Melville. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Hershel Parker\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0810124645\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780810124646\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Northwestern University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/01\/2008\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 248\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.26lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.42h x 6.50w x 1.04d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/01\/2008 pg. 83\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eReference and Research Bk News\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2008 pg. 265\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/26\/2008 pg. 49","brand":"Hershel Parker","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47422707826943,"sku":"9780810124646","price":32.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_eeed0d77-f3a8-41c9-a99e-d8ed18e49c9e.jpg?v=1761527968","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/melville-hershel-parker-9780810124646","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}