Moby Dick

“Call me Ishmael” says Moby Dick ’s protagonist, and with this famous first line launches one of the acclaimed great American novels. Part adventure story, part quest for vengeance, part biological textbook, and part whaling manual, Moby Dick was first published in 1851. The story follows Ishmael as he abandons his humdrum life on shore for an adventure on the waves. Finding the whaler Pequod at harbor in Nantucket, he signs up for a three-year term without meeting the captain of the ship, a mysterious figure called Ahab. It’s only well into the voyage that Ahab’s thirst for vengeance against