ESSEX I

The Essex was an American whaling ship that was attacked by a sperm whale in 1820. Of the twenty crewmen, only eight survived, only eight were rescued after being stranded at sea for three months. The tragedy inspired Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. At the time, whales were killed for blubber, which was utilized in oil lamps as well as other commodities.

I’m not telling you a story so much as a shipwreck—the pieces floating, finally legible.

—Ocean Vuong,
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

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