Herman Melville Classic Stories
Stung by the critical reception and lack of commercial success of Moby-Dick and Pierre, Herman Melville became obsessed with the difficulties of communicating his vision to readers. His sense of isolation lies at the heart of these later works. In "Billy Budd, Sailor," a classic confrontation between good and evil, an innocent young man is unable to defend himself against a wrongful accusation. The other selections "Bartleby," "The Encantadas," "Benito Cereno," and "The Piazza" also illuminate, in varying guises, the way fictions are created and shared with a wider society. --back cover