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The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade
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The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade Hardcover - 1988

by Melville, Herman

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hardcover. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
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Details

  • Title The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade
  • Author Melville, Herman
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition 1st US - 1st Pri
  • Condition Used - Good
  • Pages 518
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Northwestern University Press, Evanston, IL, U.S.A.
  • Date December 1, 1988
  • Bookseller's Inventory # 0810103249.G
  • ISBN 9780810103245 / 0810103249
  • Weight 2.4 lbs (1.09 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.55 x 6.66 x 1.76 in (24.26 x 16.92 x 4.47 cm)
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: Mississippi River Basin
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 85171722
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

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Summary

Onboard the Fidele, a steamboat floating down the Mississippi to New Orleans, a confidence man sets out to defraud his fellow passengers. In quick succession he assumes numerous guises - from a legless beggar and a worldly businessman to a collector for charitable causes and a 'cosmopolitan' gentleman, who simply swindles a barber out of the price of a shave. Making very little from his hoaxes, the pleasure of trickery seems an end in itself for this slippery conman. Is he the Devil? Is his chicanery merely intended to expose the mercenary concerns of those around him? Set on April Fool's Day, The Confidence-Man (1857) is an engaging comedy of masquerades, digressions and shifting identity, and a devastating satire on the American dream.

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About the author

HERMAN MELVILLE (1819-1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick. His first three books gained much contemporary attention (the first, Typee, becoming a bestseller), and after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime. When he died in 1891, he was almost completely forgotten. It was not until the "Melville Revival" in the early 20th century that his work won recognition, especially Moby-Dick, which was hailed as one of the literary masterpieces of both American and world literature. He was the first writer to have his works collected and published by the Library of America.