Typee

From its publication in 1846,TypeeHerman Melville’s first bookwas recognized as a classic of travel and adventure literature. Based on the author’s own experiencesas well as oral and written sourcesin the South SeasMelville’s story of two runaway sailors held captive by the Typees is a vivid portrait of Polynesian life. Many readers delighted in its racy scenesbut religious fundamentalists saw to it that criticism of missionaries was expurgated from the American text. Five years laterthe religious press took revenge on Moby-Dick when Melville again displayed his persistent skepticism and irreverence and celebrated cultural relativity as he had done in Typee. As Melville’s fame declined after the 1850sreaders forgot the old religious denunciations and remembered Typee as the best of his books. Throughout his lifetimeMelville’s most famous and popular character was Fayaway. This text of Typee is an Approved Text of the Center for Editions of American Authors (Modern Language Association of America). Book jacket.