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'Moby Dick' Won't Be Official State Book

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Oct 10, 2008 8:54 am US/Eastern

'Moby Dick' Won't Be Official State Book

BOSTON (WBZ) ― The battle over whether to name "Moby-Dick" the official book of Massachusetts was almost as intense as the deadly confrontation between Capt. Ahab's crew and the elusive white whale.
 
The state House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill naming Herman Melville's classic the official "epic novel" of Massachusetts after some lawmakers wondered whether it should be named the "official book," given the state's rich literary history.

According to the Boston Globe, the compromise to give it the "epic novel" title leaves a loophole for other novels to be recognized, since there is no "official book" of Massachusetts. 

It's happened before.  The state has honored four different rocks.

Rep. Cory Atkins tells the paper she questioned why Melville should get the honor and not Nathaniel Hawthorne or Louisa May Alcott.

Rep. Christopher Speranzo sponsored the bill at the urging of elementary school students in his Berkshires district. Melville wrote the book in Pittsfield.

The bill needs to pass the Senate and get the governor's signature.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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