Why Do You Call Me Ishmael When You Know My Name Is Bernie?

From a tour of Harlan's favorite films of the '40s to an account of the best comics of the '90s, WHY DO YOU CALL ME ISHMAEL WHEN YOU KNOW MY NAME IS BERNIE? gathers an omnifarious array of Ellisonian essays that use popular culture as a window on sociology and politics, art as an insight into the human soul, and Dashiel Hammett for an English lesson.Most of these essays began life as introductions to one book or another, some made one-off appearances in magazines, and at least one did both! They may have been written for a myriad of reasons, but - at the end of the day - they all offer a look inside the mind of the man who crafted them... a man not named Ishmael... or Bernie... though he has been known to sign books he doesn't care for as "Herman Melville."