The Book Prize Index

Herman Melville

Newton Arvin

A narrative account of what is known of Melville's life, and an interpretation, in psychological and psychoanalytical terms, of Melville's personality. Critically, it presents an independent appraisal and an exhaustive analysis ... of Melville's prose and verse."

BiographyBiography · high confidenceBiography81 signalsLlm Classifier: Biography -> BiographyOpen Library: Biography -> BiographyOpen Library: Melville, herman, 1819-1891 -> BiographyMilitary BiographyMemoir & Personal History

Award History

1 wins · 1 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
National Book Award for NonfictionMajor1951WinnerSecondary source
View all award history (1)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    • Herman Melville90%

  2. 02 Central places

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.

    This suggestion did not meet the normal display threshold and is more likely to be wrong.

    The book provides an interpretation of Herman Melville’s personality using psychological and psychoanalytical terms, alongside an independent appraisal and exhaustive analysis of his prose and verse.

    Model confidence 55%

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    45 / 100 academic

    Trade / academic crossover

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 72%.