Moby-Dick

Herman Melville’s masterpiece remains one of the greatest works of imagination in literary history, celebrated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read. Over a century and a half after its publication, it tells the story of a madman engaged in an unholy war against a vast, dangerous creature of the sea. More than an adventure tale or an encyclopedia of whaling lore, it serves as a haunting social commentary filled with unforgettable characters. Melville’s nautical epic has inspired numerous films, including the adaptation of Nathanael Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea, directed by Ron Howard. Written with redemptive humor, the narrative explores profound themes of character, faith, and perception. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction by Andrew Delbanco and notes by Tom Quirk, presenting the Northwestern-Newberry edition of Melville's text, approved by the Center for Scholarly Editions and the Center for Editions of American Authors of the MLA. For over seventy years, Penguin has been a leading publisher of classic literature, offering a global bookshelf of over 1,700 titles that provide authoritative texts, introductions, and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.