The Piazza Tales

Herman Melville (1819 - 1891)

A collection of six short stories by American writer Herman Melville, published in May 1856. Except for the newly written title story, "The Piazza," all of the stories had appeared in Putnam's Monthly between 1853 and 1855. The collection includes what has long been regarded as three of Melville's most important achievements in the genre of short fiction, "Bartleby, the Scrivener", "Benito Cereno", and "The Encantadas", his sketches of the Galápagos Islands. (Billy Budd, arguably his greatest piece of short fiction, would remain unpublished in his lifetime.) One should note that the era's prevalent racism occasionally surfaces, as in describing blacks as "indisputable inferiors", to be found in "Benito Cereno". (Summary by John Greenman)

Genre(s): Culture & Heritage Fiction, Historical Fiction, Humorous Fiction

Language: English


SECTION CHAPTER READER TIME

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01 Chapter 1 - The Piazza John Greenman

00:41:25

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02 Chapter 2A - Bartleby Part 1 John Greenman

00:57:51

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03 Chapter 2B - Bartleby Part 2 John Greenman

00:45:02

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04 Chapter 3A - Benito Cereno Part 1 John Greenman

01:01:48

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05 Chapter 3B - Benito Cereno Part 2 John Greenman

01:05:25

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06 Chapter 3C - Benito Cereno Part 3 John Greenman

00:53:13

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07 Chapter 3D - Benito Cereno Part 4 John Greenman

00:44:06

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08 Chapter 4 - The Lightning-Rod Man John Greenman

00:19:17

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09 Chapter 5-A - The Encantadas - Sketch First. The Isles at Large. John Greenman

00:14:37

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10 Chapter 5-B - The Encantadas - Sketch Second. Two Sides to a Tortoise John Greenman

00:10:46

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11 Chapter 5-C - The Encantadas - Sketch Third. Rock Rodondo John Greenman

00:13:31

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12 Chapter 5-D - The Encantadas - Sketch Fourth. A Pisgah View from the Rock. John Greenman

00:18:15

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13 Chapter 5-E - The Encantadas - Sketch Fifth. The Frigate, and the Flyaway. John Greenman

00:04:20

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14 Chapter 5-F - The Encantadas - Sketch Sixth. Barrington Isle and the Buccaneers. John Greenman

00:08:15

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15 Chapter 5-G - The Encantadas - Sketch Seventh. Charles's Isle and the Dog-King. John Greenman

00:13:36

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16 Chapter 5-H - The Encantadas - Sketch Eighth. Norfolk Isle and the Chola Widow. John Greenman

00:37:04

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17 Chapter 5-I - The Encantadas - Sketch Ninth. Hood's Isle and the Hermit Oberlus. John Greenman

00:25:13

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18 Chapter 5-J - The Encantadas - Sketch Tenth. Runaways, Castaways, Solitaries, Grave-stones, etc. John Greenman

00:10:24

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19 Chapter 6 - The Bell-Tower John Greenman

00:41:20