Why Read Moby-Dick?

A "brilliant and provocative" (The New Yorker) celebration of Melville's masterpiece--from the bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea, Valiant Ambition, and In the Hurricane's Eye

One of the greatest American novels finds its perfect contemporary champion in Why Read Moby-Dick?, Nathaniel Philbrick's enlightening and entertaining tour through Melville's classic. As he did in his National Book Award-winning bestseller In the Heart of the Sea, Philbrick brings a sailor's eye and an adventurer's passion to unfolding the story behind an epic American journey. He skillfully navigates Melville's world and illuminates the book's humor and unforgettable characters--finding the thread that binds Ishmael and Ahab to our own time and, indeed, to all times. An ideal match between author and subject, Why Read Moby-Dick? will start conversations, inspire arguments, and make a powerful case that this classic tale waits to be discovered anew.

"Gracefully written with an] infectious enthusiasm..."--New York Times Book Review

Nathaniel Philbrick is the author of In the Heart of the Sea, winner of the National Book Award; Mayflower, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Valiant Ambition, winner of the George Washington Prize; Bunker Hill, winner of the New England Book Award; Sea of Glory; The Last Stand; Why Read Moby Dick?; Away Off Shore; and Second Wind.