Who wrote the novel "Moby-Dick"?

Herman Melville wrote the novel “Moby-Dick.”

First published in 1851, the novel is formally titled “Moby-Dick; or, The Whale.” Its narrator, Ishmael, joins the whaling ship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab. Ahab’s obsessive mission is to hunt Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that previously injured him.

Melville’s own experiences at sea, including time aboard a whaler, helped shape the book’s maritime details. The novel combines adventure, theology, philosophy, natural history, comedy, symbolism, and long technical passages about whales and whaling. That unusual structure made it far more ambitious than a straightforward sea adventure.

“Moby-Dick” received mixed reviews and sold poorly during Melville’s lifetime. It was largely out of print when he died in 1891, but a twentieth-century revival established it as one of the great American novels. Readers sometimes confuse the title with the whale’s full name: “Moby-Dick” is the creature, while the novel’s central human figure is Captain Ahab.