Call Me Ishmael

📘 About This Book

In the summer of 2008, Brooklyn elementary school teacher and musician Patrick Shea set two goals for himself-to read Moby-Dick, and to write a song every day for two months. Those two goals quickly merged to become to beginning of the Call Me Ishmael project. Three years later, Shea had written, recorded, and blogged about all 135 chapters of Moby-Dick, plus the epilogue. This book contains the lyrics to all 136 songs from the project. The book also includes an introduction to the project as a whole, and an afterword for each volume of songs, written by the author. "Patrick Shea's songs are deeply insightful responses to Melville's masterpiece. They illuminate the power of Moby-Dick and enrich our experience of that remarkable novel. Shea understands that, at its heart, Moby-Dick is an orchestral work. Its chords resonate throughout Shea's lyrics." --Bill Kelly, President of the CUNY Graduate Center

📖 Summary

Call Me Ishmael by Patrick Shea is a fascinating intersection of literature and musical art, capturing a unique creative journey born in the summer of 2008. At the time, Shea was working as a Brooklyn elementary school teacher and a musician when he established two ambitious personal goals: to read Herman Melville's monumental novel Moby-Dick, and to write an original song every single day for two months. As Shea immersed himself in the rich depths of Melville's prose, these two distinct goals naturally merged into a single, expansive creative endeavor known as the Call Me Ishmael project. Over the course of the next three years, this initial spark blossomed into a massive undertaking. Shea dedicated himself to writing, recording, and blogging about every single chapter of Moby-Dick, steadily making his way through all 135 chapters plus the epilogue. The book published in 2012 stands as the tangible artifact of this monumental multimedia project, compiling the complete lyrics to all 136 songs that Shea generated along the way. Spanning 179 pages, the book does not merely present a collection of isolated song lyrics; it contextualizes them within the broader artistic framework of the experiment. The volume opens with a comprehensive introduction written by the author, offering readers a window into the origins, motivations, and daily challenges of undertaking such an intense creative schedule while balancing the demands of teaching and musicianship. Furthermore, the book is thoughtfully structured to include an afterword for each distinct volume of songs, providing critical authorial reflection and deeper commentary on how the music evolved alongside Shea's reading of Melville's masterpiece. Patrick Shea's songs serve as deeply insightful responses to Moby-Dick, functioning as lyrical interpretations that illuminate the immense power of the original novel and enrich the reader's overall experience of that literary classic. Shea demonstrates a profound understanding that at its core, Moby-Dick is a work of staggering depth and resonance, and his musical compositions capture those complex thematic undercurrents. For fans of interdisciplinary art, literature-inspired music, and creative experiments, Call Me Ishmael offers a compelling look at how one individual chose to engage with a classic text through active, daily artistic production.

🎯 Key Lessons

⚖️ Pros & Cons

❓ FAQ

💬 💬 Reader Comments (0)