This book provides a critical introduction to the life and literary works of Herman Melville, the nineteenth-century American author of "Moby-Dick", as well as nine other novels and numerous short stories and poems. In addition to providing an overview of Melville's life in relation to his literary works, the book places his writings within their historical and cultural contexts, and then examines each of his major works fully, at the level that is accessible to the nonspecialist and general reader. The chapters that address major works by Melville feature close readings of the literary texts including analysis of point of view, setting, plot, characters, symbolism, themes, and historical contexts when appropriate. In addition, the four chapters devoted to individual novels, as well as the chapter on Melville's poetry, feature alternative readings to introduce the reader to postcolonial, feminist, genre, reader response, and deconstructionist approaches to literary criticism. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography that includes lists of Melville's published works, biographies, contemporary reviews, and recent critical studies. Works covered include: early narratives, from "Typee" to "White Jacket"; "Moby-Dick"; "Pierre"; "The Piazza Tales"; other magazine tales: "I and My Chimney," "The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids," and "Israel Potter"; "The Confidence-Man"; poetry, including "Battle-Pieces" and "Clare"; and, "Billy Budd".