Henry Miller
Henry Miller was an influential American writer born on December 26, 1891, in New York City, whose literary career was profoundly shaped by his complex personal relationships and the vibrant urban environment around him. In 1930, he moved to Paris, where he developed a close relationship with author Anaïs Nin, who supported his work on his groundbreaking first novel, *Tropic of Cancer*, published in 1934. The novel's candid exploration of sexuality stirred considerable controversy and became a focal point in the legal battles over obscenity in literature during the mid-20th century. Despite its initial ban in the U.S., the case surrounding *Tropic of Cancer* culminated in a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 1964 that affirmed its constitutional protection, paving the way for greater freedom in literary expression.
Miller's writing is characterized by autobiographical fiction that combines humor with extensive, imaginative prose. He continued to produce notable works throughout his career, including *Black Spring* and *Tropic of Capricorn*, and his themes often pushed the boundaries of social norms regarding sexuality and free speech. Beyond writing, Miller was also a talented watercolor artist, with his works featured in prominent museums. He passed away in Pacific Palisades, California, on June 7, 1980, leaving an enduring legacy in both literature and the arts. Miller's contributions significantly influenced American literature and the evolution of obscenity laws, fostering wider acceptance of previously taboo subjects.
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Henry Miller
Writer
- Born: December 26, 1891
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: June 7, 1980
- Place of death: Pacific Palisades, California
Author Profile
Henry Miller was born on December 26, 1891, and raised in New York City. The city environment, along with the people he associated with, would greatly influence his literary career. In particular his complicated romantic life would provide much fuel for his greatest works. By 1930 Miller had moved to Paris, where he became close with the author Anaïs Nin, who supported him as he completed what was to be his first published novel, Tropic of Cancer (1934). The book's revolutionary style, using highly detailed sexual experiences as a major theme, would become highly controversial and leave a lasting impact on the world of literature.
The three decades marking the most productive period in Henry Miller’s life as a writer coincided with the period in which the legal community in the United States confronted the issues of publishing and distributing literary works that some people deem obscene or pornographic. The number of court cases on this issue reached an all-time high from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s. Famous trials considered such literary masterpieces as Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita (1955), William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch (1959), Edmund Wilson’s Memoirs of Hecate County (1949), and D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1928). Some of these works were unavailable in the United States for many years as court cases dragged on or settled against publication.
The greatest number of trials involved Miller's Tropic of Cancer, first published by the Obelisk Press in Paris in 1934. In 1961, Grove Press published the previously banned book in the United States for the first time. Reviewers were mixed in their assessment, but tended to be sympathetic, perhaps because they realized that the publication involved a major censorship issue. Grove Press anticipated only minor opposition to the distribution of Tropic of Cancer since they had successfully defended the case for the U.S. publication of Lady Chatterley’s Lover in 1959. Within a short period, however, some sixty court actions developed in all parts of the United States as the book stirred controversy, requiring Grove Press, numerous booksellers, various library associations, and other groups to mount extensive defenses. Although each case differed in some details, the major question to be resolved was whether the book had any social value.
Witnesses from the scholarly and artistic communities were often as divided in their opinions as the reviewers had been. Consequently, in Connecticut and Pennsylvania the book was held to be obscene, while Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Illinois ruled it not obscene. The most complex trial was held in Los Angeles in 1962, with many distinguished witnesses appearing for both sides. Initially the jury ruled Tropic of Cancer to be obscene; a decision eventually overturned. In July, 1964, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Miller’s book in the case Miller v. California, giving it constitutional protection everywhere in the United States. With the case against Tropic of Cancer resolved, subsequent publications of Henry Miller’s books, as well as most other books that censors wanted to ban, went unchallenged in almost all communities.
Tropic of Cancer, like most of Miller’s writings, is best described as autobiographical fiction. He offers readers a complex artistic experience, demonstrated by an incredibly extensive and convoluted use of words, a sense of humor ranging from the bawdy to the most elevated and sophisticated, and narratives that often reach great heights of the imagination.
Miller would continue writing in the groundbreaking style of Tropic of Cancer, producing several other notable works even before the censorship issue was resolved. These include Black Spring (1936), Tropic of Capricorn (1939), and the three works of the Rosy Crucifixion trilogy: Sexus (1949), Plexus (1953), and Nexus (1959). The explicit sexual content of these novels significantly shaped American literature as well as obscenity laws, desensitizing many readers to previously taboo subjects and establishing a wide acceptance of free speech in creative writing. Miller was also a prolific watercolor artist, and his paintings have been included in major museums and collections.
Miller died at the age of eighty-eight on June 7, 1980, in Pacific Palisades, California.
Bibliography
Brown, J. D. Henry Miller. New York: Ungar, 1986. Print.
Dearborn, Mary V. The Happiest Man Alive: A Biography of Henry Miller. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991. Print.
Ferguson, Robert. Henry Miller: A Life. New York: Norton, 1991. Print.
Gottesman, Ronald, ed. Critical Essays on Henry Miller. New York: Hall, 1992. Print.
Jahshan, Paul. Henry Miller and the Surrealist Discourse of Excess: A Poststructuralist Reading. New York: Lang, 2001. Print.
Lewis, Leon. Henry Miller: The Major Writings. New York: Schocken, 1986. Print.
Mathieu, Bertrand. Orpheus in Brooklyn: Orphism, Rimbaud, and Henry Miller. Paris: Mouton, 1976. Print.
Mitchel, Edward, ed. Henry Miller: Three Decades of Criticism. New York: New York U P, 1971. Print.
Widmer, Kingsley. Henry Miller. Rev. ed. Boston: Twayne, 1990. Print.