Skip navigation

Legislators: ‘Moby-Dick’ is a whale of a tale

Massachusetts House of Representatives names it state’s official epic novel

BN.com
Melville wrote the book about a ship crew's confrontation with the elusive white whale in Pittsfield.
Special feature
Image: Toni Morrison
The lit list: Nobel Prize winners
From American author Toni Morrison to French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, meet the writers who have won the highest literary honor.
Special feature
Image: Mary-Louise Parker
Life-changing lit: Celebs' fave books
From Mary-Louise Parker to LL Cool J, stars share the books that have influenced them most.
Image: A fan in Times Square reacts to a play while watching the New York Yankees play the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 before going on to win the 2009 Major League Baseball World Series in New York
Reuters
  Week in pictures
Yankees fans, Pakistan train crash, festival of lights, Iran protest, rodeo clowns, H1N1, toddler bowling and more news and feature photos from around the globe.
Image: 92605747
AFP - Getty Images
  Celeb sightings
A German television show goes Gaga, Kristen Stewart takes a walk for charity, Hayden Panettiere cheers on the Lakers in L.A. and more.
Image:
THE NEWS-REVIEW
  Animal Tracks
A dog in dreads, two finicky sea turtles, a chilled-out chimp and monkeys and meerkats with pumpkins – find all that and more photos of creatures great and small.
PoliticalCartoons.com
  Political Cartoons
Click to view this week's political satire
updated 1:06 p.m. ET Oct. 10, 2008

The question of whether to choose an official book for the state of Massachusetts made for a whale of a debate.

The state House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill naming “Moby-Dick” the state's official “epic novel.”

That was a compromise after some lawmakers questioned Rep. Christopher Speranzo's proposal to dub Herman Melville's 1851 classic the "official book," given the state's rich literary history.

Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here

“It really did open a lively discussion,” Speranzo said.

Rep. Cory Atkins said she was "appalled" and contended her district in Concord has "more authors per square mile than any other."

“What about Louisa May Alcott? What about (Nathaniel) Hawthorne? How am I going to face my constituents?” she said.

The bill needs to pass the Senate and get the governor's signature.

Speranzo, who read the book in college, sponsored the bill at the urging of elementary school students in his Berkshires district. Melville wrote the book about a ship crew's confrontation with the elusive white whale in Pittsfield.

“As a representative from Pittsfield, I am very proud 'Moby-Dick' was written in Pittsfield,” Speranzo said.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sponsored links

Resource guide