Typee Author:Herman Melville Typee (originally subtitled A Peep at Polynesian Life), catapulted Herman Melville to fame at the age of 17 upon its publication in 1846. Ostensibly a novel, the story is closely based on the author's four-month sojourn with a group of South Sea Islanders, the Typees, after he and a companion deserted their whaling ship. Initially ... more »the two Americans are charmed and fascinated by the exotic life of the Typees -- their physical beauty, the regal bearing of their warriors, the gracefulness of their women -- and embrace with enthusiasm their food and customs. And yet the land of the Typees is not quite paradise: the two men are guests who may not leave, and gradually they learn of customs of a more chilling nature, making their escape from this tropical paradise a necessity. After a century and a half, the freshness of Melville's vision is still appealing, while the moral perceptions the narrator draws from his experiences foreshadow the author's profound concerns in later works.« less