White Lies: Melville's Narratives of Facts

by John Samson

The narrative of facts--probably best exemplified in the literature of exploration--was an immensely popular genre in mid-nineteenth-century America. In White Lies, John Samson offers full contextual readings of Melville's five major narratives of facts--Typee, Omoo, Redburn, White-Jacket, and Israel Potter. Samson demonstrates that in these novels Melville critically rewrote the sources on which he drew, in effect making the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801477719
• ISBN13: 9780801477713
• Release Date: October 2011
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher