Moby Dick was not my fav book to ever read. Actually, I have never heard ANYONE make that claim that this book "changed their lives" except Melville himself.
Moby Dick (and Alice In Wonderland) continue to be bookbinding and printmaking and letterpress challenges - these books are favored for bindings and collectables. I mean, how do you depict Moby Dick any differently from, I don't know, the covers of the past 1000 or so book covers of versions of this book?
Recently, there was a letterpress/art challenge for a creation of response art (an art piece that reflects influence from a certain book, object, etc) on Moby Dick and they are/were on display at the Bodleian Library. Some pieces were retrieved from older archives too (notice the woodcut).
I mean, these images are awesome...
Image below: "Extract 35: ‘* * * * * and the breath of the whale is frequently attended with such an insupportable smell, as to bring on a disorder of the brain.’ ─ Ulloa’s South America Elizabeth Fraser, Frauhaus Press, Cambridge Handset letterpress. Blind deboss using wood and metal type. Whale created from face and back of woodtype with ornaments for eye and spout. Text 12pt & 6pt Baskerville italic. Whale breath 12pt glint (Monotype B1309 & B1310). Printed on Somerset Velvet 300gsm soft white paper with a tabletop flatbed proofing press."
And make sure to look at the one from BookLab (our buddies) at the University of Maryland!