REBEL GENIUS: The Life of Herman Melville

by William Bixby ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1970

Alongside the portrayals of American literati by Olivia Coolidge and James Playsted Wood (one of whom will hopefully assay Melville soon), this is mundane, a recapitulation of the course of Melville's life overlaid with crude psychological and sociological ""analysis"" and plaster-cast in current terms, e.g. ""The Rebel Mutinies,"" ""The Rebel Finds a Cause,"" ""And Another Cause,"" ""Rebel On the Run,"" ""The Rebel Strikes,"" ""The Cost of Rebellion."" (""The Rebel Strikes"" consists of a few pages on the writing of Moby Dick.) Mr. Bixby provides no bibliography st) it's impossible to determine on what basis he ascribes to both Melville's parents such a strong preference for older brother Gansevoort that Herman was permanently scarred, this and the family's social pretensions (and failure to grow poor gracefully) being the dominant motif's; certainly other sources would give him a happier childhood, and the few quotes here and fuller testimony elsewhere indicate parental appreciation, especially on the part of his father. From Melville's letters and journals Mr. Bixby quotes not at all; of his books he has little to say, and that very obvious: only on whaling and seafaring generally does he write familiarly and informatively. But nothing bespeaks the book as well, perhaps, as the introductory prescription for ""a true, lifelong rebel"": ""The child must have a very sensitive nature and a high order of intelligence. He must have a family where tension and crisis are part of daily lite. He should have a handsome, severe father who does no! understand children. . ."" and so on, in tabular form-an insult to the intelligence and to Melville.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: McKay

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION