A Discussion of Moby-Dick and Book Group Launch

Inspired by CLR James and Edward Said's commentary on Moby-Dick we are excited to present a talk by Matt Sandler followed up by a reading group facilitated by John Bohn using Melville’s novel to think and discuss the peculiar features of U.S. fascism and imperialism. 

Join us for a presentation and discussion of what Edward Said called “the greatest and most unruly novel ever written in the United States.” In the 20th century, critics took turns claiming Melville’s masterpiece Moby-Dick was an inscrutably forbidding existential allegory or a stark depiction of the interracial working class.

Here in the 21st century, with natural disaster looming and the rise of a new labor movement, Melville’s novel looks prescient as ever. Matt Sandler will provide an introduction to the text on July 24 before we begin reading. We plan to meet to discuss the book on August 14th and September 4th at 7pm.

Matt Sandler is the Director of the MA in American Studies at Columbia’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race and author of The Black Romantic Revolution: Abolition Poets at the End of Slavery.

John Bohn is a writer living in Brooklyn and a graduate of Columbia’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race. His research focuses on the twentieth century literary left in the United States. He started organizing virtual reading groups among friends in 2020 and is excited to facilitate his first public reading group.

Copies of Moby-Dick will be available for purchase.