Melville's final work of prose, a bewildering story of the Devil and his attempt to con a group of travelers aboard a riverboat on the Mississippi. It is a dense, curious work, set on April Fool's Day, where each passenger is exposed. It includes Melville's well known "The Metaphysics of Indian Hating," a satire of the legends and myths of America's past.  (USS44, $13.00)