Thar She Blows: Whale Tales, Sea Shanties and More Melvillainy

While 2012's successful Moby-Dick Marathon is on hold for this year, WORD presents an evening of Melvillian madness to fill the long, dark hours that make one feel adrift at sea. The New York Times journalist Mary Pilon discusses exploding whales, Gigantic cofounder Lincoln Michel delivers a book report on Melville’s doorstop of a novel, and researcher Brigid Harmon recounts her time reading old whaling logs in “I Spent Three Years on a Whaleship and All I Got Was Scurvy.” You can also expect Great White Whale–themed card games and trivia, clam chowder from Littleneck, beers from Harpoon Brewery and, yes, sea shanties.