From one of the nation’s most dynamic and celebrated young poets, an extended dialogue with the greatest masterpiece of American literature, Moby-Dick. Taking its inspiration—and, for that matter, its form—from Ishmael’s abandoned “Cetological Dictionary” in Moby-Dick, this extraordinary, highly original work brings meditations on myth, representation, language, nature, consciousness, and notions of spiritual quest into constantly new relations. From “Accuracy” to “Wound,” from “Adam” to “Void,” and from “Babel” to “Silence,” the cross-referential, highly associative entries make up an utterly singular work of art. For fans of Beachy-Quick’s acclaimed collections of poems, for the legions of Melville fanatics among us, and indeed for anyone who regards reading as an unconditional, encompassing obsession, A Whaler’s Dictionary is absolutely essential.