White Lies

by John Samson

Book Overview

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: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801422809
• ISBN13: 9780801422805
• Release Date: August 1989
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher