Omoo
by Herman Melville
Taking its name from a Polynesian term for a rover or island-to-island traveler, Omoo chronicles turbulent events on a South Sea whaling ship and builds on Melville's personal experience as a crew member on a ship sailing to the Pacific Ocean. Melville gives sailors a first-person narrative of the life of a sailor in the nineteenth century, from recruitment among the natives to dealing with fugitives and even rebellion, filled with colorful characters and vivid descriptions of the remote regions of Polynesia.
