Listen to an audio recording of this lecture.
Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea and Why Read Moby-Dick?, explores the timeless relevance of Herman Melville's masterpiece.
In addition to dipping into the novel itself, Philbrick will talk about the circumstances of the book's creation and the subsequent course of Melville's literary career.
Philbrick's address will kick off our Moby-Dick Read-a-Thon, lasting 25 continuous hours. By the end of the marathon reading, a series of readers-performers will have collectively read Moby-Dick (aloud) cover to cover!
Beginning at 10:30 am, people arriving for the keynote address will hear a reading of the prefatory material in Moby-Dick, the "Extracts" and "Etymology."
Nathaniel Philbrick has written 11 books about a variety of aspects of American history, many of them New York Times bestsellers and one, Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His writing has also appeared in Vanity Fair, The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe. A lifelong sailor, many of Mr. Philbrick's works have focused on the sea.
This event is part of our programming in connection with the exhibition Melville: Finding America at Sea, sponsored by Elizabeth Amy Liebman and the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation. See the exhibition at the Newberry from January 18 through April 6, 2019.
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