Moby-Dick

By Herman Melville

1851

Literary fiction

Captain Ahab leads his crew on a monomaniacal voyage to hunt the white sperm whale that took his leg. Narrated by Ishmael, the novel weaves the hunt with vast digressions on cetology, philosophy, and the nature of obsession. Largely ignored on publication, it was rediscovered in the twentieth century and is now considered one of the defining works of American literature.