Description A scathing, razor-sharp satire set on a New Orleans-bound riverboat, The Confidence-Man exposes the fraudulent optimism of so many American idols and idealists--Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and P.
By the time of his death he had been almost completely forgotten, but his longest novel, Moby-Dick -- largely considered a failure during his lifetime, and most responsible for Melville\'s fall from favor with the reading public -- was rediscovered in the 20th century as one of the chief literary masterpieces of both American and world literature..
His first two books gained much attention, though they were not bestsellers, and his popularity declined precipitously only a few years later.
About the Author Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet.
More importantly, we believe that The Confidence-Man is America\'s first postmodern novel--game-like, darkly comic, and completely inventive.
It\'s an edition we have long admired.
Bruce Franklin, intended for both the general reader and the scholar.
Why is Dalkey Archive doing yet another edition of The Confidence-Man? And why is it doing Melville at all? First, this edition, originally published by Bobbs-Merrill over forty years ago, contains remarkable annotations by H.
Barnum, in particular--and draws a dark vision of a country being swallowed by its illusions of progress.
T.
Description A scathing, razor-sharp satire set on a New Orleans-bound riverboat, The Confidence-Man exposes the fraudulent optimism of so many American idols and idealists--Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and P
