Included in this Herman Melville collection are six tales that range considerably—from "The Encantadas" (an allegorical travelogue) to the haunting "Bartleby, the Scrivener." Opening the volume is "The Piazza," a pastoral sketch that frames the collection. "Benito Cereno" — a subversive satire—of grows out of a true story of mutiny among the enslaved . . . 1."The Piazza" 2."Bartleby the Scrivener" (first published in Putnam's November and December 1853) 3."Benito Cereno" (first published in Putnam's October, November and December 1855) 4."The Lightning-Rod Man" (first published in Putnam's August 1854) 5."The Encantadas or Enchanted Isles" (first published in Putnam's March, April, and May 1854) 6."The Bell-Tower" (first published in Putnam's August 1855)
Author
There is more than one author with this name Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. His first two books gained much attention, though they were not bestsellers, and his popularity declined precipitously only a few years later. By the time of his death he had been almost completely forgotten, but his longest novel, Moby Dick—largely considered a failure during his lifetime, and most responsible for Melville's fall from favor with the reading public—was rediscovered in the 20th century as one of the chief literary masterpieces of both American and world literature.
