1819-1891. US writer, whose Moby-Dick 1851
was inspired by his whaling experiences in
the South Seas. These experiences were also
the basis for earlier fiction, such as Typee
1846 and Omoo 1847. He published several
volumes of verse, as well as short stories
(The Piazza Tales 1856). Billy Budd was
completed just before his death and published
1924. Although most of his works were
unappreciated during his lifetime, today he
is one of the most highly regarded of US
authors. Melville was born in Albany, New
York, took to the sea after his father went
bankrupt, and struggled to make a literary
living. He worked in the New York customs
office 1866-85, writing no prose from 1857
until Billy Budd. A friend of Nathaniel
Hawthorne, he explored the dark, troubled
side of American experience in novels of
unusual form and great philosophical power.
He died in obscurity. Billy Budd was the
basis of an opera by Benjamin Britten 1951,
and was made into a film 1962. Moby-Dick was
filmed by John Huston in 1956. Billy Budd was
the basis of an opera by Benjamin Britten
1951, which was made into a film 1962.