> Skip to content
  • Published: 1 December 2003
  • ISBN: 9780375758027
  • Imprint: Random House US Group
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $39.99

The Confidence-man





In his introduction, Stephen Matterson discusses Melville's literary career, the role of the trickster in American literature, and themes of satire and religious allegory in this unusual novel

“In The Confidence-Man,” writes John Bryant in his Introduction, “Melville found a way to render our tragic sense of self and society through the comic strategies of the confidence game. He puts the reader in the game to play its parts and to contemplate the inconsistencies of its knaves and fools.” Set on a Mississippi steamer on April Fool’s Day and populated by a series of shape-shifting con men, The Confidence-Man is a challenging metaphysical and ethical exploration of antebellum American society. Set from the first American edition of 1857, this Modern Library paperback includes an Appendix with Bryant’s innovative “fluid text” analysis of early manuscript fragments from Melville’s novel.

  • Published: 1 December 2003
  • ISBN: 9780375758027
  • Imprint: Random House US Group
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $39.99

Also by Herman Melville

See all

Praise for The Confidence-man

penguin pop image
penguin pop image