Hershel Parker's credentials as a Melville scholar are unimpeachable--he's co-edited the authoritative Northwestern-Newberry edition of the complete works and seems to have eaten, slept, and breathed Melville for decades. Despite his daunting c.v., however, his massive, two-part biography is eminently readable and entertaining.

While it would be impossible to depict a writer's life without addressing his or her work, the focus here is on the events of Melville's life, not his books. The fascinating national and family politics that preoccupied him are on particularly fine display. Readers with only a casual interest might see some details as mere minutiae, but each cited incident enriches the portrait of a complex man and artist.

Melville's history is not nearly so well documented as that of some of his contemporaries, so there is some educated guesswork regarding certain motives and details, but Parker is ever scrupulous about separating evidence from speculation. His immersion in Melville's work and his sympathetic understanding of the man make this volume the most trustworthy and complete biography available. ( )