This study offers a complex analysis of the psychodynamic role of shame in Melville s work, with detailed readings of Moby-Dick, Pierre, and Billy Budd. Its concrete application of the rich analytic framework supplied by the work of such theorists as Heinz Kohut, Leon Wurmser, Silvan Tomkins, and Donald Nathanson implicitly challenges the contemporary reliance on an often abstract poststructuralist model of psychoanalysis. As a paradigmatic, coherent reading of the work of a single author, the book will appeal both to the many scholars interested in Melville s work and to anyone interested in psychoanalytic or psychological approaches to literature."