Moby-Dick turned 163 years old last week, since its first American publication in November, 1851. That's a pretty long life span for a sperm whale, which typically live about 70 years, but who knows for sure. These reclusive creatures haven't been studied thoroughly, even though their numbers have greatly rebounded since the whaling days Melville described. You don't even have to go all the way to the Pacific to find one. Sperm whales have been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico. This Great White Whale was doomed to extinction until literary critics re-evaluated the novel in the 1920s and began to cite it as one of the great American novels. It had been panned by British critics upon its initial release, with few copies sold in London. It did slightly better in the States, enjoying a second printing, but lackluster sales left it on the back shelves. That all changed with the Modern Library edition in 1926, which fetches a pretty good penn...