Melville's Moby Dick stands as one of the very finest novels ever written. His Captain Ahab is one of the greatest charatcers in American fiction -- a Quaker sea captain obsessed with killing the mighty whale who has cost him one of his legs.
"Moby Dick" was poorly received when first published.
Melville also wrote White-Jacket?, Typee, Omoo?, Pierre?, [The Confidence Man]? and many short stories and works of various genres.
Melville was a friend of Nathaniel Hawthorne and a New York City Customs agent.