Benito Cereno
''In our own time of terror and torture,Benito Cerenohas emerged as the most salient of Melville's works: a tale of desperate men in the grip of a vengeful fury that those whom they hate cannot begin to understand.'' --Andrew Delbanco, author,Melville: His World and Work''The noblest short story in American literature.'' --Edward J. O'Brien, American author and short-story anthologist''Superficially, this is a story of slavery and mutiny on the high seas, but beneath the adventure-charged plot lies Melville's examination of that subject which so fascinated him: the confrontation of extreme forces of good and evil in the universe.'' --Masterpieces of World Literature