Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street

by Herman Melville

Overview

Bartleby the Scrivener (1853), by Herman Melville, tells the story of a quiet, hardworking legal copyist who works in an office in the Wall Street area of New York City. One day Bartleby declines the assignment his employer gives him with the inscrutable "I would prefer not." The utterance of this remark sets off a confounding set of actions and behavior, making the unsettling character of Bartleby one of Melville's most enigmatic and unforgettable creations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442940901
Publisher:	ReadHowYouWant.com, Limited
Publication date:	07/16/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	319 KB

About the Author

Herman Melville (1 August 1819 – 28 September 1891) was an American author best known for his book, "Moby Dick".

Jeremy Kay is the Publisher of Bartleby Press

Date of Birth:

August 1, 1819

Date of Death:

September 28, 1891

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Place of Death:

New York, New York

Education:

Attended the Albany Academy in Albany, New York, until age 15

Editorial Reviews

A series of classic short stories from around the world, inexpensive and beautifully produced.

From the Publisher

As Melville’s second-best-known story, “Bartleby, the Scrivener” is familiar to almost anyone who has taken American Lit. What is little recognized, however, is its subtitle: “A Story of Wall Street.” This subtitle, accompanied by Bartleby’s passive resistance in “occupying” (though the story does not actually use this word) the lawyer’s office, makes this tale strangely relevant to contemporary listeners. Stefan Rudnicki’s stately baritone embodies the story’s narrator, the stuffed-shirt Wall Street lawyer whose perplexed reaction to Bartleby is the substance of the story. The diction of the nineteenth-century lawyer is a little terse and archaic, but Rudnicki’s performance gives it fresh character. And it’s a treat to hear him adroitly deliver Bartleby’s meek, yet steadfast, iconic phrase: “I prefer not to.” F.T. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2012 - AudioFile