Kendall, you just opened the door, so I'm gonna say as a PURELY PERSONAL note and with no aspersions on the lovers thereof, that as a kid I loved the notion of Moby Dick, I love the Rocky & Bullwinkle version (Maybe Dick), and I love the Steve Goodman synopsis-in-five-minutes of the tale "Moby Book".

But when I finally sat down to read the original I found it charming in spots, wrong in spots, and stultifying on the whole. It's one of the very few books I was unable to finish.

Again, no aspersions on the lovers thereof. Feel free to hurl verbal brickbats my way, I won't complain and I won't explain.