Mardi was Herman Melville's third book, and his first pure fiction work (while featuring fictional narrators, his previous novels were heavily autobiographical). It details (much like Typee and Omoo) the travelings of an American sailor who abandons his whaling vessel to explore the South Pacific. Unlike the first two, however, Mardi is highly philosophical and is said to be the first work to show Melville's true potential. The tale begins as a simple narrative, but quickly focuses upon discourse between the main characters and their interactions with different symbolic countries they encounter. While not as cohesive or lengthy as Moby Dick, it shares many of the same themes and writing style. Jump to: navigation, search Herman Melville Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, essayist, and poet. ... Typee is American writer Herman Melvilles first novel, based on his actual experiences after having jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands. ... Omoo was Herman Melvilles sequel to Typee, and, as such, was also nonfiction. ... Jump to: navigation, search Moby-Dick book cover Moby-Dick – the hyphen in the title is present in the original edition – is a novel by Herman Melville. ...

Herman Melville, as a preface to Mardi, wrote somewhat ironically that his first two books were nonfiction but disbelieved; by the same pattern he hoped the fiction book would be accepted as fact.