Bartleby the Scrivener is among the most noted of American short stories A Wall Street lawyer hires a new clerk who, after an initial bout of hard work, refuses to make copies or do any other task required of him, refusing with the words "I would prefer not to." The short story (1853) has been considered a precursor of absurdist literature, touching on several of Franz Kafka's themes in such works as A Hunger Artist and The Trial. Herman Melville, (1819-1891, New York City), was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet, best known for his novels of the sea, including his masterpiece, Moby Dick (1851).