The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)

Name: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)
Brand: Dover Publications
SKU: SPTM-9780486817514
Price: 16.00 USD
Availability: InStock

$16.00

Product Variants

Brief Description:
"This Dover edition, first published in 2017, is an unabridged republication of a standard edition of the work published by Dix, Edwards & Co., New York, in 1857."--Title page verso.

Brief Description:
"On April Fool's Day in 1856, a shape-shifting grifter boards a Mississippi riverboat to expose the pretenses, hypocrisies, and self-delusions of his fellow passengers. Melville's comic allegory addresses themes of sincerity, identity, and morality in its challenge to the optimism and materialism of mid-nineteenth-century America. Misunderstood by the author's contemporaries, the novel is praised today for its stunningly modern techniques"--

Biographical Note:

Herman Melville (1819-1891) found early success with stories inspired by his adventures in the South Seas. His fortunes declined with the 1851 publication of Moby-Dick, now recognized as a masterpiece but scorned by Melville's contemporaries. The author was obliged to work as a New York City customs inspector and died in obscurity, three decades before the critical reassessment of his work.

Table of Contents:
1. A Mute Goes Aboard a Boat on the Mississippi2. Showing That Many Men Have Many Minds3. In Which a Variety of Characters Appear4. Renewal of Old Acquaintance5. The Man with the Weed Makes It an Even Question Whether He Be a Great Sage or a Great Simpleton6. At the Outset of Which Certain Passengers Prove Deaf to the Call of Charity7. A Gentleman with Gold Sleeve-Buttons8. A Charitable Lady9. Two Business Men Transact a Little Business10. In the Cabin11. Only a Page or So12. Story of the Unfortunate Man, from Which May Be Gathered Whether or No He Has Been Justly So Entitled13. The Man with the Traveling-Cap Evinces Much Humanity, and in a Way Which Would Seem to Show Him to Be One of the Most Logical of Optimists14. Worth the Consideration of Those to Whom It May Prove Worth Considering15. An Old Miser, upon Suitable Representation, Is Prevailed upon to Venture an Investment16. A Sick Man, After Some Impatience, Is Induced to Become a Patient17. Towards the End of Which the Herb-Doctor Proves Himself a Forgiver of Injuries18. Inquest into the True Character of the Herb-Doctor 19. A Soldier of Fortune20. Reappearance of One Who May Be Remembered21. A Hard Case22. In the Polite Spirit of the Tusculan Disputations23. In Which the Powerful Effect of Natural Scenery Is Evinced in the Case of the Missourian, Who, in View of the Region Round About Cairo, Has a Return of His Chilly Fit24. A Philanthropist Undertakes to Convert a Misanthrope, but Does Not Get Beyond Confuting Him25. The Cosmopolitan Makes an Acquaintance26. Containing the Metaphysics of Indian-Hating, According to the Views of One Evidently Not So Prepossessed as Rousseau in Favor of Savages27. Some Account of a Man of Questionable Morality, but Who, Nevertheless, Would Seem Entitled to the Esteem of That Eminent English Moralist Who Said He Liked a Good Hater28. Moot Points Touching the Late Colonel John Moredock29. The Boon Companions30. Opening with a Poetical Eulogy of the Press, and Continuing with Talk Inspired by the Same31. A Metamorphosis More Surprising Than Any in Ovid32. Showing That the Age of Magic and Magicians Is Not Yet Over33. Which May Pass for Whatever It May Prove to Be Worth34. In Which the Cosmopolitan Tells the Story of the Gentleman-Madman35. In Which the Cosmopolitan Strikingly Evinces the Artlessness of His Nature36. In Which the Cosmopolitan Is Accosted by a Mystic, Whereupon Ensues Pretty Much Such Talk as Might Be Expected37. The Mystical Master Introduces the Practical Disciple38. The Disciple Unbends, and Consents to Act a Social Part39. The Hypothetical Friends40. In Which the Story of China Aster Is, at Second-Hand, Told by One Who, While Not Disapproving the Moral, Disclaims the Spirit of the Style41. Ending with a Rupture of the Hypothesis42. Upon the Heel of the Last Scene, the Cosmopolitan Enters the Barber's Shop, a Benediction on His Lips43. Very Charming44. In Which the Last Three Words of the Last Chapter Are Made the Text of Discourse, Which Will Be Sure of Receiving More or Less Attention from Those Readers Who Do Not Skip It45. The Cosmopolitan Increases in Seriousness

Publisher Marketing:
On April Fool's Day in 1856, a shape-shifting grifter boards a Mississippi riverboat to expose the pretenses, hypocrisies, and self-delusions of his fellow passengers. The con artist assumes numerous identities -- a disabled beggar, a charity fundraiser, a successful businessman, an urbane gentleman -- to win over his not-entirely-innocent dupes. The central character's shifting identities, as fluid as the river itself, reflect broader aspects of human identity even as his impudent hoaxes form a meditation on illusion and trust.
This comic allegory addresses themes of sincerity, character, and morality in its challenge to the optimism and materialism of mid-19th-century America. By the time of its publication, readers had pigeonholed Herman Melville as a writer of adventure yarns. The novel was completely misunderstood by the author's contemporaries, and its financial failure drove him away from fiction. With the passage of time, however, The Confidence-Man has come to be recognized for its stunningly modern techniques and its indictment of the dark side of the American dream.