Herman Melville's Moby Dick, first published in 1851 is considered a piece of Great American literature. The story is about a sailor called Ishmael who works aboard the whaleship Pequod commanded by Captain Ahab. Turns out Ahab's sole purpose (perhaps in life) is to seek out the ferocious white whale, Moby Dick because in a previous encounter Moby destroyed Ahab's ship and bit off his leg.
Many of you will want to argue that sperm whales do not bite (unless you are a giant squid of course), however, enter the world and imagination of Mr. Melville himself by downloading this classic audiobook one chapter a day from http://www.mobydickbigread.com/.
For those of you interested in the origins of this story, it turns out Herman Melville was inspired by a true story about the Nantucket whaling ship the Essex that was struck and sunk by a sperm whale in the southern Pacific ocean in 1820. The book describing the incident by Nathanial Philbrick is definitely worth a read and is title, In the heart of the sea.
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