Bartleby, The Scrivener
by Herman Melville
Scrivener Bartleby is the story of a quiet, hard-working legal writer who works in an office in the Wall Street neighborhood of New York. One day, Bartleby rejects the job his employer gave him, saying, inexplicably, "I'd rather not do that." The wording of this phrase reveals a confusing series of actions and behaviors that make Bartleby's disturbing character one of Melville's most mysterious and memorable works.
