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In reply to the discussion: Two Questions: [View all]2naSalit
(86,559 posts)73. Hmmm
According to Wiki he wrote a book "Typee" about living among cannibals that was very popular and "Moby Dick" was rather unpopular and basically ended his book-writing career. But he did write a number of short stories that are interesting - some of which I had to read in college - and quite a collection of poetry as well - some of which I also read in college.
The short stories that I read were sort of fables, and rather touching and the poetry was bad either. But I am glad that I wasn't assigned "Moby Dick", don't think I could have survived it and that's coming from someone who likes to read.
At any rate, he wasn't exactly a "one hit wonder" in the way you contend.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Melville
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Without giving your question much thought, the names that immediately lept to mind were
scarletwoman
Jan 2014
#6
I think Melville is quintessentially American, and "Bartleby the Scrivener" is genius -- & also
El_Johns
Jan 2014
#71
Helen Keller, socialist, labor rights activist, suffragist, early supporter of the NAACP...
Luminous Animal
Jan 2014
#12
Mark Twain, Joseph Heller, Henry James, Emma Goldman, Edward Snowden, Joan Baez,
Tierra_y_Libertad
Jan 2014
#15
Duke Ellington, Kurt Vonnegut, Susan B Anthony, Orson Wells, Harvey Milk, Malcolm X.
Bluenorthwest
Jan 2014
#20
living - Bernie Sanders why? he knows what empathy is. deceased - they're all dead...
Agony
Jan 2014
#28
Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King. In the modern day - Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald
quinnox
Jan 2014
#30
Nobody as disgustingly anti-Semitic as Henry Ford deserves a place on the list (nt)
Nye Bevan
Jan 2014
#41
Waterman, it's not like you to post and run. I'm looking forward to you making some comments here.
scarletwoman
Jan 2014
#35
I don't think the best our society has produced is newsworthy enough to know by name
NoOneMan
Jan 2014
#63
When I lived in Europe, I had a circle of acquaintances who, when I was in a bad mood or
El_Johns
Jan 2014
#75
some very great names here. let me add Satchel Paige, Randolph Bourne and Aldo Leopold to the list
villager
Jan 2014
#85