Considered one of the greatest American writers, Herman Melville leaves the sea behind in this short story collection to write about Wall Street offices, the Galapagos Islands, a sinister architect, apathy, capitalism, and humanity's precarious nature. In "Bartleby, the Scrivener," a Manhattan lawyer struggles with a clerk who "prefers not" to do work or leave the office building. In "Benito Cereno," a captain stumbles upon a Spanish slave ship off the coast of Chile, whose captain has been overthrown in a revolt. The short story collection also includes "The Piazza," "The Lightning-Rod Man," "The Encantadas," and the "Bell-Tower." This is an unabridged version of the 1856 edition.