The People's History & the Cold War

[alice wellintown]

In Typee Melville famously says he hopes to tell the unvarnished
truth; he sets up his tale as romantic adventure and critique of the
missionary projects, though he does take the position that the men of
the cloth are working for the good Christian god. He distinguishes
himself from these men and from the Elect who need not work for a
living and have therefore never been at sea, down to the last cock in
a cage, no blade of green grass sighted for six or more months.

I read Parker's big biography and he spends a great deal of time on
Melville youthful adventures, his sexual exploits, and his journey
from the bottom of the ship to the top and captain's dinner table.
Melville make many an excuse here in Typee; his readers want a good
yarn spun by a man who has experienced what they, only through a
romantic escapism, can experience vicariously. Melville is a good
crank. Early on he is a bit of hack too. He, like Bartleby, copies,
though he often gives credit. But Melville never claims a history
degree or a teacher's tenure; he is but the Usher to a Grammar School,
a Sub-Sub Librarian. In Nabokov's terms, a major writer not a minor
one. For Melville, like Pynchon is an enchanter. Zinn is a political
dunce next to these men. Wy then we know what we are about here.

On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 6:14 AM, Michael Bailey
<michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com> wrote:
>  alice wellintown  wrote:
>> Right, it is political hack; Zinn makes no excuses and none are
>> needed. Cranks don't have shame or care what crtitics may find
>> offesive. And I agree that his style is far more important than his
>> substance. Actually prefer the comic book version.
>>
>
> I don't know enough about it to agree or disagree.
>
> Sometimes I learn a lot more from your comments than I have from those
> you've made on Zinn.