The Events Department is in touch with registrants regarding an alternative format for the March and April sessions of this seminar. With questions, email events@nysoclib.org.

“Call me Ishmael.” Who doesn’t know this famous command?

That three-word opening of Moby-Dick (1851) may be the most you know of this novel. Or maybe you “sort of” read it several years ago. This challenging and rewarding novel deserves a fresh start or a revisit. The seminar will start with two examples of Melville’s prose written after his Big Novel. Then we’ll devote three sessions to being honorary members of the crew of the Pequod, shipmates of Starbuck (him of the coffeepot), Queequeg, and the eternally fascinating Captain Ahab. Time for another three-word phrase: “Thar she blows!”