1. The scarlet letter: The heretical temptation.
2. Moby-Dick: Cutting a classic down to ideological size.
3. Billy Budd: Criticism as assault on authority.
4. Huckleberry Finn: The return of the genteel tradition.
5. The Bostonians: Refuting human nature.
Appendix. Typee: Civilization and its malcontents.
