Bartleby and Benito Cereno - Softcover

Melville, Herman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1619493799 ISBN 13: 9781619493797

Publisher: Empire Books, 2012

Synopsis

This volume collects two of Melville’s most memorable and celebrated short fiction pieces, “Bartleby, the Scrivener” and “Benito Cereno.” A short story that largely reflected Melville’s own frustrations as a writer, “Bartleby, the Scrivener” tells the story of a Manhattan-based clerk and copyist who is driven by depression and self-determination to renounce the writing assignments and expectations demanded of him by his superiors. “Benito Cereno,” on the other hand, is a harrowing novella that revolves around a slave rebellion aboard a Spanish merchant ship and the utter depravity of the circumstances preceding it. Both works of extraordinary literary significance, they continue to showcase Melville at the peak of his creativity.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Herman Melville towers among American writers not only for his powerful novels, but also for the stirring novellas and short stories that flowed from his pen. Two of the most admired of these—"Bartleby" and "Benito Cereno"—first appeared as magazine pieces and were then published in 1856 as part of a collection of short stories entitled The Piazza Tales.
"Bartleby" (also known as "Bartleby the Scrivener") is an intriguing moral allegory set in the business world of mid-19th-century New York. A strange, enigmatic man employed as a clerk in a legal office, Bartleby forces his employer to come to grips with the most basic questions of human responsibility.
"Benito Cereno," considered one of Melville's best short stories, deals with a bloody slave revolt on a Spanish vessel. A splendid parable of man's struggle against the forces of evil, the carefully developed and mysteriously guarded plot reveals the horror and depravity of which man is capable.

About the Author

Herman Melville (1819 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd. His first three books gained much contemporary attention (the first, Typee, becoming a bestseller), but after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime. When he died in 1891, he was almost completely forgotten. It was not until the "Melville Revival" in the early 20th century that his work won recognition, especially Moby-Dick which was hailed as one of the literary masterpieces of both American and world literature. He was the first writer to have his works collected and published by the Library of America.

About this edition

• Publisher: Empire Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1619493799
• ISBN 13: 9781619493797
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 138