Melville's first novel was based on his experiences in French Polynesia. Tommo and Toby, tired of an abusive life on the whaling ship, decide to hide on an island. They soon discover the Typees, who bring them into their village with kindness, despite being cannibals. Contrasting the idyllic life of the natives with the corrupting influence of civilization, Typee gives early evidence of Melville's genius.

White-Jacket; or, The World in a Man-of-War is the fifth book by American writer Herman Melville, first published in London in 1850. The book is based on the author's fourteen months service in the United States Navy, aboard the frigate USS "Neversink" (actually the USS United States). From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

Redburn: His First Voyage is the fourth book by the American writer Herman Melville, first published in London in 1849. The book is semi-autobiographical and recounts the adventures of a refined youth among coarse and brutal sailors and the seedier areas of Liverpool. Melville wrote Redburn in less than ten weeks. While one scholar describes it as "arguably his funniest work," scholar F.O. Matthiessen calls it "the most moving of its author's books before Moby-Dick". From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

Set on a Mississippi steamer on April Fool's Day and populated by a series of shape-shifting con men, The Confidence-Man is a challenging metaphysical and ethical exploration of antebellum American society.

See also Etext #15, Etext #2701, and a computer-generated audio file, Etext #9147.

"Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" is a short story by the American writer Herman Melville, first serialized anonymously in two parts in the November and December 1853 issues of Putnam's Magazine, and reprinted with minor textual alterations in his The Piazza Tales in 1856. A Wall Street lawyer hires a new clerk who—after an initial bout of hard work—refuses to make copy and any other task required of him, with the words "I would prefer not to". The lawyer cannot bring himself to remove Bartleby from his premises, and decides instead to move his office, but the new proprietor removes Bartleby to prison, where he perishes. Numerous essays have been published on what, according to scholar Robert Milder, "is unquestionably the masterpiece of the short fiction" in the Melville canon. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

There is no txt file, you'll have to get the zip. See also Etext #2489, Etext #2701, and a computer-generated audio file, Etext #9147.