Herman Melville

The Confidence-Man Herman Melville

The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville was first published on April 1st 1857, April Fools Day, The same day as the setting for the book. The novel is a tale of interlocking stories sold in the style of the Canterbury Tales, about a group of travelers on a steamboat as they make their way down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. Reviews were not positive but that has changes as noted, "Long mistaken for a flawed novel, the book is now admired as a masterpiece of irony and control, though it continues to resist interpretive consensus." It is now viewed as a classic work or fiction that every fan of literature should read. Odin's Library Classics is dedicated to bringing the world the best of humankind's literature from throughout the ages. Carefully selected, each work is unabridged from classic works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama.