{"product_id":"2940150676855","title":"Best Seller The Confidence-Man ( epic, fantasy, thriller, ethical, moral, logic comments, Mystery, romance, action, adventure, science fiction, drama, comedy, blackmail, humor classic, novel, literature, suspense )","description":"Long considered the author's strangest novel, The Confidence-Man is a comic allegory aimed at the optimism and materialism of mid-eighteenth-century America. A mysterious shape-changing Confidence-Man approaches passengers on a Mississippi steamboat and, winning over the (not quite innocent) victims with his charm, urges them to implicitly trust in the cosmos, in nature, and even in human nature-with predictable results. The Confidence-Man represented a departure for Melville, a satirical and socially acute work that was to be a further step away from his sea novels. Yet it confused and angered reviewers who preferred to pigeonhole him as an adventure writer. Some have argued the book was a joke on the readers loyal to his sea stories, but if so, it backfired. Dismissed by critics as unreadable, and an undoubted financial failure, The Confidence-Man's cold reception undermined Melville's belief in his ability to make a living writing works that were both popular and profound, and he soon gave up fiction. It was not until the mid-twentieth century that critics rediscovered the book and praised its wit, stunningly modern technique, and wry view that life may be just a cosmic con game.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Resounding Wind Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47109672698096,"sku":"2940150676855","price":1.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940150676855_p0.jpg?v=1763751752","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940150676855","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}