The most popular of Melville's books during his lifetime, this partly autobiographical work first published in 1846 tells the story of Tommo, a Yankee sailor who jumps ship and enters the flawed Pacific paradise of Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas. Controversial when first published because of its criticism of missionaries and its erotic content, the book holds up today both as a fine example of Melville's glorious prose, and as early quasi-anthropology in the Pacific Islands.  (PAC14, $12.95)