The Confidence-Man

The Confidence-Man

First edition title page
Author	Herman Melville
Language	English
Genre	Satirical novel, philosophical novel
Published	1857
Publisher	Dix, Edwards & Co.
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print
Preceded by	The Piazza Tales
Followed by	Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War

The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade, first published in New York on April Fool's Day 1857, is the ninth book and final novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book was published on the exact day of the novel's setting.

Centered on the title character, The Confidence-Man portrays a group of steamboat passengers. Their interlocking stories are told as they travel on the Mississippi River toward New Orleans. The narrative structure is reminiscent of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Scholar Robert Milder notes: "Long mistaken for a flawed novel, the book is now admired as a masterpiece of irony and control, although it continues to resist interpretive consensus."^[1]