Foreword
By condensing each chapter of Moby-Dick to a single page of direct quotation and explication, I believe I have made (in a total of only 136 pages) Melville’s masterpiece accessible to those who might otherwise refrain from attempting unassisted a rewarding journey through some five hundred pages, as Melville wrote them. I hope that this effort will
encourage such voyagers to read Moby-Dick as it was written
by Melville. My suggestion is that this companion reader be used as a guide,
chapter by chapter, through one of the most respected works of American
literature.
Robert A. diCurcio
Nantucket
1996
On to A Note to the First Time Reader