Billy Budd Author:Herman Melville Billy Budd has been called the best short novel ever written. In his brilliantly condensed narrative prose, Herman Melville fashioned a "parable of innocence" in which a natural man is defeated by evil intellect. For all those who feel themselves threatened by a hostile and inflexible environment, there is special significance in this haunting s... more »tory of a handsome sailor who becomes a victim of man's intransigence.« less