Super Short Summary

Herman Melville: A Biography by Hershel Parker is a comprehensive two-volume work detailing the life of nineteenth-century American author Herman Melville, drawing extensively on surviving documentation. Volume One, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, covers Melville's early years, his family's decline, his experiences at sea, and his initial literary successes with Typee and Omoo, culminating in the troubled publication of Moby-Dick. Volume Two, which won the Association of American Publishers’ Award for Biography, addresses Melville's later struggles, including the poor reception of Pierre and his eventual shift from fiction to poetry, ending with his death in 1891 and posthumous recognition.