John C.A. Manley | July 30, 2024

D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world." He was referring to Moby-Dick by Herman Melville.

Moby-Dick was published in 1851. While working on the manuscript, Melville wrote this description of his morning writing routine in his journal:

"I rise at eight — thereabouts — & go to my barn — say good-morning to the horse, & give him his breakfast. (It goes to my heart to give him a cold one, but it can’t be helped) Then, pay a visit to my cow — cut up a pumpkin or two for her, & stand by to see her eat it — for it’s a pleasant sight to see a cow move her jaws — she does it so mildly & with such a sanctity. — My own breakfast over, I go to my work-room & light my fire–then spread my M.S.S. on the table–take one business squint at it, & fall to with a will.  At 2 1/2 p.m. I hear a preconcerted knock at my door, which (by request) continues till I rise & go to the door, which serves to wean me effectively from my writing, however interested I may be..."

At the time, Melville was living on a farm in the Berkshire mountains of Western Massachusetts. Struggling financially, he would spend the rest of his day in hard labour: milking cows; caring for horses; planting, tending and harvesting corn, potatoes, hay, tomatoes, and pumpkins; splitting wood; carpentry; picking apples and pressing cider. Melville was no slouch.

He put in these long days so he could publish a novel that was initially a commercial failure, selling less than 4,000 copies before he died in 1891.

Twenty-eight years later, however, it was already heralded as the "Great American Novel." And today, 173 years later, it has sold millions of copies — all the result of one man sitting at his desk every morning and doing work he loved.

If you don't have a copy of "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world" on your bookshelf, you can purchase Moby-Dick in print, ebook or audiobook format here.

Photo of Herman Melville's studio (where he wrote Moby-Dick) at Arrowhead Farm used with permission by Pablo Sanchez

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/