Melville On Melville

Originally published to promote his French translation of Moby-Dick, Jean Giono's Melville: A Novel is an astonishing literary compound of fiction, biography, personal essay, and criticism. In the fall of 1849, Herman Melville traveled to London to deliver his novel White-Jacket to his publisher. On his return to America, Melville would write Moby-Dick. Melville: A Novel imagines what happened in between: the adventurous writer fleeing London for the country, wrestling with an angel, falling in love with an Irish nationalist, and, finally, meeting the angel’s challenge—to express man’s fate by writing the novel that would become his masterpiece. Eighty years after it appeared in English, Moby-Dick was translated into French for the first time by the Provençal novelist Jean Giono and his friend Lucien Jacques. The publisher persuaded Giono to write a preface, granting him unusual latitude. The result was this literary essay, Melville: A Novel—part biography, part philosophical rumination, part romance, part unfettered fantasy. Paul Eprile’s expressive translation of this intimate homage brings the exchange full circle. Paul Eprile was a co-winner of the French-American Foundation's 2018 Translation Prize for his translation of Melville.

Meet Melville, a purple, softly round, beyond-adorable sea creature who is off to “find a place for just me.” Leaving his warm and loving mama behind, Melville the sea creature sets off for an adventure, and he knows just the kind of place he’s looking for. Along the way, he gets lost (briefly), encounters sharks and other big sea creatures, and floats past a pirate ship. Melville checks out a few spots, but all fall short of his dream place…until, weary from his adventures, he finds his way back to his mama—a place that is “just right.”

Clara finds an umbrella on the ground at the park and does a good deed by putting it on a bench. The umbrella says "thank you" and invites Clara to make a wish. So unfolds a magical chain of events featuring a new friend, an elephant, musical butterflies, and a naughty fox who learns his lesson. The artwork in this quirky piece of magical realism is packed with humor and character, and the surprising ending is both heart-warming and uplifting.

Tor Classics are affordably-priced editions designed to attract the young reader. Original dynamic cover art enthusiastically represents the excitement of each story. Appropriate "reader friendly" type sizes have been chosen for each title--offering clear, accurate, and readable text. All editions are complete and unabridged, and feature Introductions and Afterwords. This edition of Billy Budd includes a Foreword, Biographical Note, and Afterword by James Gunn. Aboard the warship Bellipotent, the young orphan Billy Budd was called the handsome sailor. Billy was tall, athletic, noble looking; he was friendly, innocent, helpful and ever-cheerful. He was a fierce fighter and a loyal friend. All the men and officers liked him... All but one: Master-at-Arms Claggart. Envious, petty Claggart plotted to make Billy's life miserable. But when a fear of mutinies swept through the fleet, Claggart realized he could do more than just torment the Handsome Sailor...He could frame Billy Budd for treason... At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Pierre; or, The Ambiguities was first published in New York in 1852. The plot makes it a Gothic novel and evolves around the tensions in Pierre Glendinning’s family. There are his widowed mother, his cousin Glendinning Stanley, his fiancee Lucy Tartan and Isabel Banford, who is revealed to be his half-sister.

Honor Among Thieves profiles Melville's eventful life & discusses his cinema as an essential body of work in our reckoning of postwar European cinema.