11-20-2010, 11:22 PM
Hi,
The true story behind Moby Dick:
Melville wrote a textbook on whaling, some 400 pages long. When he went to get it published, he found out that no college taught whaling and that most whalers were illiterate. So he added 10 pages of character development and plot and passed it off as a novel. Since than it has been used as a test by sadistic literature teachers to determine just how far students will go for a grade.
Based in style on The Devil's Dictionary is Stan Kelly-Bootle's The Devil's DP Dictionary. It's out of print, but well worth tracking down a used copy.
--Pete
(11-20-2010, 10:09 PM)ZatarRufus Wrote: Although I never made it far into Ishmael and Captain Ahab's adventure, I did read a short story or two by Melville a few years ago. Thus ended my own forray into this particular 'classic' author's works.
How did you fare?
The true story behind Moby Dick:
Melville wrote a textbook on whaling, some 400 pages long. When he went to get it published, he found out that no college taught whaling and that most whalers were illiterate. So he added 10 pages of character development and plot and passed it off as a novel. Since than it has been used as a test by sadistic literature teachers to determine just how far students will go for a grade.
(11-20-2010, 10:41 PM)ZatarRufus Wrote: A few of my favorites are The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, A Contrarians's Dictionary by Murray L. Bob, and NTC's Dictionary of Changes in Meanings by Adrian Room. The latter being quite interesting especially when I read very old books.
Based in style on The Devil's Dictionary is Stan Kelly-Bootle's The Devil's DP Dictionary. It's out of print, but well worth tracking down a used copy.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?