| Description |
xi, 244 p. ; 22 cm. |
| Series |
Icons of America |
|
Icons of America.
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| Summary |
"Though branded as pornography for its graphic language and explicit sexuality, Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer is far more than a work that tested American censorship laws. In this riveting book, published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Tropic of Cancer's initial U.S. release, Frederick Turner investigates Miller's unconventional novel, its tumultuous publishing history, and its unique place in American letters. Written in the slums of a foreign city by a man who was an utter literary failure in his homeland, Tropic of Cancer was published in 1934 by a pornographer in Paris, but soon banned in the United States. Not until 1961, when Grove Press triumphed over the censors, did Miller's book appear in American bookstores. Turner argues that Tropic of Cancer is "lawless, violent, colorful, misogynistic, anarchical, bigoted, and shaped by the same forces that shaped the nation." Further, the novel draws on more than two centuries of New World history, folklore, and popular culture in ways never attempted before. How Henry Miller, outcast and renegade, came to understand what literary dynamite he had within him, how he learned to sound his "war whoop" over the roofs of the world, is the subject of Turner's revelatory study. "-- Provided by publisher. |
|
"How Henry Miller, renegade and failed writer, came to understand what literary dynamite he had in him and, drawing on two centuries of New World history, folklore, and popular culture, sent his "war whoop" out over the roofs of the world"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
"Fuck everything!" -- Slaughterhouse -- A great beast -- Folklore of the conquest -- Twain -- Just a Brooklyn boy -- Beginning the streets of sorrow -- The world of sex -- Talk -- Entering the slaughterhouse -- Manhattan monologist -- Cosmodemonic -- She -- Exile -- Where the writers went -- The avant-garde -- Hunger -- June -- An Apache -- Villa Seurat -- What she gave -- 1934 -- Form -- The grounds of great offense -- A new world. |
| Subject |
Miller, Henry, 1891-1980 -- Criticism and interpretation
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Miller, Henry, 1891-1980. Tropic of cancer.
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Politics and literature -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
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Authors and publishers -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
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Publishers and publishing -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
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Censorship -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
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| ISBN |
9780300149494 (hardback) |
|
0300149492 (hardback) |
|
