Henry Miller Popular Books

Henry Miller Biography & Facts

Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical reflection, stream of consciousness, explicit language, sex, surrealist free association, and mysticism. His most characteristic works of this kind are Tropic of Cancer, Black Spring, Tropic of Capricorn, and the trilogy The Rosy Crucifixion, which are based on his experiences in New York City and Paris (all of which were banned in the United States until 1961). He also wrote travel memoirs and literary criticism, and painted watercolors. Early life Miller was born at his family's home, 450 East 85th Street, in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, New York City. He was the son of Lutheran German parents, Louise Marie (Neiting) and tailor Heinrich Miller. As a child, he lived for nine years at 662 Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, known at that time (and referred to frequently in his works) as the Fourteenth Ward. In 1900, his family moved to 1063 Decatur Street in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. After finishing elementary school, although his family remained in Bushwick, Miller attended Eastern District High School in Williamsburg. As a young man, he was active with the Socialist Party of America (his "quondam idol" was the black Socialist Hubert Harrison). He attended the City College of New York for one semester. Career Brooklyn, 1917–1930 Miller married his first wife, Beatrice Sylvas Wickens, in 1917; their divorce was granted on December 21, 1923. Together they had a daughter, Barbara, born in 1919. They lived in an apartment at 244 6th Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn. At the time, Miller was working at Western Union; he worked there from 1920 to 1924, as personnel manager in the messenger department. In March 1922, during a three-week vacation, he wrote his first novel, Clipped Wings. It has never been published, and only fragments remain, although parts of it were recycled in other works, such as Tropic of Capricorn. A study of twelve Western Union messengers, Clipped Wings was characterized by Miller as "a long book and probably a very bad one."In 1923, while he was still married to Beatrice, Miller met and became enamored of a mysterious dance-hall ingénue who was born Juliet Edith Smerth but went by the stage-name June Mansfield. She was 21 at the time. They began an affair, and were married on June 1, 1924. In 1924 Miller quit Western Union in order to dedicate himself completely to writing. Miller later describes this time – his struggles to become a writer, his sexual escapades, his failures, his friends, his philosophy – in his autobiographical trilogy The Rosy Crucifixion. Miller's second novel, Moloch: or, This Gentile World, was written in 1927–28, initially under the guise of a novel written by his wife Juliet (June). A rich older admirer of June, Roland Freedman, paid her to write the novel; she would show him pages of Miller's work each week, pretending it was hers. The book went unpublished until 1992, 65 years after it was written and 12 years after Miller's death. Moloch is based on Miller's first marriage, to Beatrice, and his years working as a personnel manager at the Western Union office in Lower Manhattan. A third novel written around this time, Crazy Cock, also went unpublished until after Miller's death. Initially titled Lovely Lesbians, Crazy Cock (along with his later novel Nexus) told the story of June's close relationship with the artist Marion, whom June had renamed Jean Kronski. Kronski lived with Miller and June from 1926 until 1927, when June and Kronski went to Paris together, leaving Miller behind, which upset him greatly. Miller suspected the pair of having a lesbian relationship. While in Paris, June and Kronski did not get along, and June returned to Miller several months later. Kronski committed suicide around 1930. Paris, 1930–1939 In 1928, Miller spent several months in Paris with June, a trip which was financed by Freedman. One day on a Paris street, Miller met another author, Robert W. Service, who recalled the story in his autobiography: "Soon we got into conversation which turned to books. For a stripling he spoke with some authority, turning into ridicule the pretentious scribes of the Latin Quarter and their freak magazine." In 1930, Miller moved to Paris unaccompanied. Soon after, he began work on Tropic of Cancer, writing to a friend, "I start tomorrow on the Paris book: First person, uncensored, formless – fuck everything!" Although Miller had little or no money the first year in Paris, things began to change after meeting Anaïs Nin who, with Hugh Guiler, went on to pay his entire way through the 1930s including the rent for an apartment at 18 Villa Seurat. Nin became his lover and financed the first printing of Tropic of Cancer in 1934 with money from Otto Rank. She would write extensively in her journals about her relationship with Miller and his wife June; the first volume, covering the years 1931–34, was published in 1966. Late in 1934, June divorced Miller by proxy in Mexico City.In 1931, Miller was employed by the Chicago Tribune Paris edition as a proofreader, thanks to his friend Alfred Perlès, who worked there. Miller took this opportunity to submit some of his own articles under Perlès' name, since at that time only the editorial staff were permitted to publish in the paper. This period in Paris was highly creative for Miller, and during this time he also established a significant and influential network of authors circulating around the Villa Seurat. At that time a young British author, Lawrence Durrell, became a lifelong friend. Miller's correspondence with Durrell was later published in two books. During his Paris period he was also influenced by the French Surrealists. His works contain detailed accounts of sexual experiences. His first published book, Tropic of Cancer (1934), was published by Obelisk Press in Paris and banned in the United States on the grounds of obscenity. The dust jacket came wrapped with a warning: "Not to be imported into the United States or Great Britain." He continued to write novels that were banned; along with Tropic of Cancer, his Black Spring (1936) and Tropic of Capricorn (1939) were smuggled into his native country, building Miller an underground reputation. While the aforementioned novels remained banned in the US for over two decades, in 1939, New Directions published The Cosmological Eye, Miller's first book to be published in America. The collection contained short prose pieces, most of which originally appeared in Black Spring and Max and the White Phagocytes (1938).Miller became fluent in French during his ten-year stay in Paris and lived in France until June 1939. During the late 1930s Miller also learned about German-born sailor George Dibbern, helped to promote his memoire Quest an.... Discover the Henry Miller popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Henry Miller books.

Best Seller Henry Miller Books of 2024

  • Henry Miller synopsis, comments

    Henry Miller

    Brassai & Timothy Bent

    “A wonderful portrait of Miller in his heyday: full of beans and braggadocio, overflowing with the lust to live and write.”Erica Jong His years in Paris were the making of Henry Mi...

  • Henry Miller synopsis, comments

    Henry Miller

    Robert Ferguson

    Bohemian, egoist and prophet of sensualism, Henry Miller remains to many writers and readers a literary lion. Born in Brooklyn in 1891, son of a tailor of German extraction, Miller...

  • Henry Miller synopsis, comments

    Henry Miller

    David Stephen Calonne

    As an author, Henry Miller (1891–1980) was infamous for his explicit descriptions of sex, and many of his novels, from The Tropic of Cancer to Black Spring, were banned in the Unit...

  • Henry Miller on Writing synopsis, comments

    Henry Miller on Writing

    Henry Miller

    “A brilliant selection . . . it is in short a voyage of discovery, an adventure and this the log of that voyage in the life of a probing and powerful writer.” Robert R. Kirsch, Los...

  • Dombey and Son synopsis, comments

    Dombey and Son

    Charles Dickens & Andrew Sanders

    'There's no writing against such power as this one has no chance' William Makepeace ThackerayA compelling depiction of a man imprisoned by his own pride, Dombey and Son explores t...

  • The Best Golf Stories Ever Told synopsis, comments

    The Best Golf Stories Ever Told

    Julie Ganz & Tripp Bowden

    This book is a comprehensive collection of stories, each of which captures a different facet of the game of golf. Some of the best golfers in the history of the sport as well as th...

  • The Miseducation of Henry Cane synopsis, comments

    The Miseducation of Henry Cane

    Charles Brooks

    A stunning comingofage novel about one young man's eyeopening sexual awakening at the hands of an intriguing older woman. Henry Cane knows exactly what he’s going to do with the re...

  • Willehalm synopsis, comments

    Willehalm

    Wolfram Eschenbach

    Wolfram von Eschenbach (fl. c. 11951225), best known as the author of Parzival, based Willehalm, his epic poem of military prowess and courtly love, on the style and subject matt...

  • Daisy Miller synopsis, comments

    Daisy Miller

    Henry James & Elizabeth Hardwick

    Originally published in The Cornhill Magazine in 1878 and in book form in 1879, Daisy Miller brought Henry James his first widespread commercial and critical success. The young Dai...

  • Jimmy Stewart synopsis, comments

    Jimmy Stewart

    Jonathan Coe

    Over a career that spanned fortythree years and seventyseven films, Jimmy Stewart went from leading man to national idol. Classics such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Philade...

  • A Literate Passion synopsis, comments

    A Literate Passion

    Anaïs Nin & Henry Miller

    A “lyrical, impassioned” document of the intimate relationship between the two authors that was first disclosed in Henry and June (Booklist).   This exchange of letters betwee...

  • The Koran synopsis, comments

    The Koran

    N. J. Dawood

    'Across the language barrier Dawood captures the thunder and poetry of the original' The TimesThe Koran is universally accepted by Muslims to be the infallible Word of God as first...

  • On Tangled Paths synopsis, comments

    On Tangled Paths

    Theodor Fontane & Peter James Bowman

    A moving love story and a vivid depiction of Berlin in the 1870s, from Germany's greatest nineteenthcentury novelist Theodor Fontane.Lene is a beautiful, orphaned young seamstress,...

  • Saints at the River synopsis, comments

    Saints at the River

    Ron Rash

    From a major voice in Southern literature comes awardwinning author Ron Rash's Saints at the River, a novel about a town divided by the aftermath of a tragic accidentand the woman ...

  • The Aspern Papers and Other Tales synopsis, comments

    The Aspern Papers and Other Tales

    Henry James & Michael Gorra

    A wonderful new collection of Henry James's short stories about the relationship between art and life, edited by Michael Gorra.This volume gathers seven of the very best of Henry J...

  • Romain Gary synopsis, comments

    Romain Gary

    David Bellos

    Airman, war hero, immigrant, law student, diplomat, novelist and celebrity spouse, Romain Gary had several lives thrust upon him by the history of the twentieth century, but he als...

  • Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch synopsis, comments

    Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch

    Henry Miller

    In his great triptych "The Millennium," Bosch used oranges and other fruits to symbolize the delights of Paradise. In his great triptych “The Millennium,” Bosch used oranges and ot...

  • The Book of Chuang Tzu synopsis, comments

    The Book of Chuang Tzu

    Chuang Tzu & Martin Palmer

    The Book of Chuang Tzu draws together the stories, tales, jokes and anecdotes that have gathered around the figure of Chuang Tzu. One of the great founders of Taoism, Chaung Tzu li...

  • Richard Burton synopsis, comments

    Richard Burton

    Michael Munn

    The whirlwind life of one of old Hollywood’s biggest stars.From the depths of a small mining village in Wales to a star of Hollywood’s silver screen, Richard Burton broke every rul...

  • Great Short Novels of Henry James synopsis, comments

    Great Short Novels of Henry James

    Henry James & Philip Rahv

    Henry James was one of the greatest and most prolific American authors ever to have lived.Henry James believed that the short novel was the perfect literary form, and his achieveme...

  • Call Me Maybe synopsis, comments

    Call Me Maybe

    Cara Bastone

    'Cara Bastone is one of the most talented writers in the romance genre today. With her signature blend of heart, humor, and honesty, Cara's books remind you that the best stories b...

  • The Maverick synopsis, comments

    The Maverick

    Thomas Harding

    The captivating story of the famed publisher George Weidenfeld, from his struggles as an AustrianJewish refugee in London to his rise as a worldrenowned literary figure. After...

  • Light Years synopsis, comments

    Light Years

    James Salter

    This exquisite, resonant novel by PEN/Faulkner winner James Salter is a brilliant portrait of a marriage by a contemporary American master. It is the story of Nedra and Viri, whose...

  • Daisy Miller and Other Tales synopsis, comments

    Daisy Miller and Other Tales

    Henry James & Stephen Fender

    A wonderful new collection of tales exploring Henry James's favourite 'international theme': the experiences of Americans in Europe, and the meeting of the old world and new. Daisy...

  • Apprenticed to Venus synopsis, comments

    Apprenticed to Venus

    Tristine Rainer

    A Revealing Look at the Mentorshipand Manipulationof Anaïs NinIn 1962, eighteenyearold Tristine Rainer was sent on an errand to Anaïs Nin’s West Village apartment. The chance meeti...

  • Wendy, Darling synopsis, comments

    Wendy, Darling

    A.C. Wise

    A lush, feminist reimagining on what happened to Wendy after Neverland, for fans of Circe and The Mere Wife.LOCUS AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST FIRST NOVELFind the second star from the r...

  • The Devil at Large synopsis, comments

    The Devil at Large

    Erica Jong

    Fearless, iconic poet, novelist, and feminist Erica Jong offers a fascinating indepth appreciation of the controversial life and work of American literary giant Henry MillerHenry M...

  • Idylls of the King synopsis, comments

    Idylls of the King

    Alfred Lord Tennyson & J. Gray

    Tennyson had a lifelong interest in the legend of King Arthur and after the huge success of his poem 'Morte d'Arthur' he built on the theme with this series of twelve poems, writte...

  • Katerina synopsis, comments

    Katerina

    James Frey

    From the New York Times bestselling author of A Million Little Pieces and Bright Shiny Morning comes Katerina, James Frey’s highly anticipated new novel set in 1992 Paris and conte...

  • Blue of Noon synopsis, comments

    Blue of Noon

    Georges Bataille & Harry Mathews

    Set against the backdrop of Europe's slide into Fascism, Blue of Noon is a blackly compelling account of depravity and violence. As its narrator lurches despairingly from city to c...

  • Henry Miller synopsis, comments

    Henry Miller

    Indrek Manniste & James M. Decker

    Scholarly responses to Henry Miller's works have never been numerous and for many years Miller was not a fashionable writer for literary studies. In fact, there exist only thre...

  • Home synopsis, comments

    Home

    Penny Parkes

    Penny Parkes' brilliant new novel MAYBE TOMORROW is out now! 'Moving, hopeful and heartfelt... an ideal book group read' AJ Pearce, author of Dear Mrs Bird A gripping and hear...

  • Chelsea Girls synopsis, comments

    Chelsea Girls

    Eileen Myles

    Available once again for a new generation of readers, the groundbreaking and candid comingofage novel inrealtime from one of America's most celebrated poets that is considered a cu...

  • Stand Still Like the Hummingbird synopsis, comments

    Stand Still Like the Hummingbird

    Henry Miller

    One of Henry Miller's most luminous statements of his personal philosophy of life, Stand Still Like the Hummingbird, provides a symbolic title for this collection of stories a...

  • Against Nature synopsis, comments

    Against Nature

    Joris-Karl Huysmans

    The hero of this curious novel is des Esseintes, a neurasthenic aristocrat who has turned his back on the vulgarity of modern life and retreated to an isolated country villa. Here,...

  • The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo synopsis, comments

    The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo

    F. G. Haghenbeck

    One of Mexico’s most celebrated new novelists, F. G. Haghenbeck offers a beautifully written reimagining of Frida Kahlo’s fascinating life and loves.When several notebooks wer...

  • The Maze at Windermere synopsis, comments

    The Maze at Windermere

    Gregory Blake Smith

    Named one of the best books of 2018 by The Washington Post, The Seattle Times, and The Advocate“Staggeringly brilliant . . . You’ll start The Maze of Windermere with bewi...

  • Be Still synopsis, comments

    Be Still

    Amy Reinhold

    Stop Breathe Listen Be Still In a world that moves too fast and places little value on quiet times, the practice of contemplative prayer offers rest to your soul and invites God's...

  • Orwell synopsis, comments

    Orwell

    D. J. Taylor

    A fascinating exploration of George Orwelland his body of workby an awardwinning Orwellian biographer and scholar, presenting the author anew to twentyfirstcentury readers. We...

  • Five Nights in Paris synopsis, comments

    Five Nights in Paris

    John Baxter

    An irresistible nighttime tour of Paris, past and present, by the bestselling author of The Most Beautiful Walk in the WorldEvery guidebook to Paris is crammed with sites to see du...

  • El libro secreto de Frida Kahlo synopsis, comments

    El libro secreto de Frida Kahlo

    F. G. Haghenbeck

    Now in Spanish: one of Mexico’s most celebrated new novelists, F. G. Haghenbeck offers a beautifully written reimagining of Frida Kahlo’s fascinating life and loves.Entre los ...

  • Henry Miller synopsis, comments

    Henry Miller

    Michel Gresset

    Biographie d'Henry Miller (18911980), auteur du Tropique du Cancer, de la Crucifixion en rose (Sexus, Plexus, Nexus) et de Jours tranquilles à Clichy. Il y a une légende de Henry M...

  • The Maddie Diaries synopsis, comments

    The Maddie Diaries

    Maddie Ziegler

    In this New York Times bestselling memoir, the incredibly talented breakout star of Dance Moms and judge on So You Think You Can Dance brings her uplifting comingofage story about ...