University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 17, Jan. 23, 1997
Critics' comments: Parker's book receives glowing reviews

     Kudos and commentary for UD English professor Hershel
Parker's Herman Melville biography have come from across the
country and across the sea.
     Parker, H. Fletcher Brown Professor of English, published
the first of his two-volume biography of Melville late last year.
     In London, "The Times Literary Supplement" reviewer wrote:
"The linking of so much material into a continually engaging
narrative is a magnificent achievement, and it is fitting that
the author of a whale of a Whale should be the subject of a whale
of a biography. Hershel Parker's magnum opus is a magisterial
work of retrieval and unflagging scholarship..."
     London's December "Literary Review" called Parker a "scholar
of notable fastidiousness, and his achievement here is to
establish Herman Melville's life as one of the great literary
family sagas of the 19th century-a narrative at least as colorful
and incident-rich as anything published by Melville himself."
     The Jan. 4 "Spectator" calls the biography an "impressively
researched and magnificently readable book...."
     In the December/January issue of "Lingua Franca," a reviewer
wrote "the 19th-century American writer has finally got a
biography of leviathan proportions," calling the book a
"provocatively original portrait of the author."
     Featured as the cover review in the Jan. 5 "Philadelphia
Inquirer" Books section, the reviewer writes of "the authority,
sweep and detail of this magisterial biography...."
     A Dec. 15 article in "The New York Times Magazine" refers to
the UD English professor as the "dean of Melville scholars,
legendary for his staggering precision and his devotion to his
hero." The article, featuring a full-page photograph of Parker,
examines controversy about Melville's marriage and his treatment
of his wife, Elizabeth.
     "The New York Times" also reviewed the book and listed it in
its "And Bear In Mind" selection, editors' choices of recent
books of particular interest. The reviewer said "Melville's
career obliges Mr. Parker to tell a number of dramatic stories,
and this he does well... I wonder how Volume 2 will begin and what
other tiny jewels of research will sparkle...
     "The Boston Sunday Globe" (Dec. 15) reviewer wrote that
Parker is "meticulous, systematic and comprehensive... Every page
of this new book attests that Parker is a consummate professional
who has hunted down every scrap of evidence and inspected each
item rigorously. His book will be indispensable.... Parker has
dedicated himself to getting sequence of facts right, and he has
accomplished this demanding job with the highest distinction."
     "The Los Angeles Times" (Dec. 15) said of the biography,
"Parker's study is an awesome achievement, indispensable for all
serious Melvilleans, with the vividness of a great Victorian
novel and the precision of the finest historical scholarship."
     The book also was selected by Chapters bookstore in
Washington, D.C., as one of its 12 "Books of the Year."