Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"Turner provides a great deal of background to show how deeply autobiographical [Tropic of Cancer] is in its gritty details and its in-your-face ethos."—Ron Antonucci, Booklist Ron Antonucci
Review
“Tropic of Cancer was indeed groundbreaking, and as Turner demonstrates so well, the novel stirred such controversy . . . that it helped pave the way for the liberation of American letters.”—Ron Antonucci, Booklist
Review
"Turner's Renegade: Henry Miller and the Making of Tropic of Cancer may, in fact, be the best one-volume introduction to a writer about whom shelves full of books have already been written."—Alan Bisbort, The Sunday Republican
Review
“Turner tells a good story: how Millers Tropic of Cancer came to be written, came to be banned and came to be an American classic.”—New York Times Book Review, front cover, Editors Choice
Review
“An entertaining and skillful evocation of the time when Millers memoir of bottom-feeding American expats in Paris was known as the dirtiest book in the world.”—Lee Sandlin, Wall Street Journal
Review
“In Renegade, scholar Frederick Turner reassesses [Tropic of Cancer], making the case that the book and its author are as quintessentially American as Walt Whitman and Mark Twain. . . . Turners story traces Millers mid-twentieth-century ramble back through the dark passages of US history.”—Sheila Heti, Bookforum
Review
"Turner's writing stunningly fans the flames of Miller's own path toward an art which transformed flagrant philandering, maudlin suffering, deep humiliation and loneliness into a career dominated by the single-minded pursuit of spiritual truth. . . . In Turner's skilful hands Miller's story comes blazingly alive."—Gaylord Dold, Wichita Eagle
Review
“This short, erudite and highly coloured account of Millers creative backstory explores both an extraordinary American life and Millers ‘renegade American inheritance.”—Robert McCrum, The Observer
Synopsis
The untold story of Henry Millers explosive 1934 novel, banned in America for more than a quarter century
Synopsis
The untold story of Henry Miller's explosive 1934 novel, banned in America for more than a quarter century
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.
Synopsis
Banned as pornography in the U.S., Tropic of Cancer was notorious for explicit sexuality and graphic language. This book reveals the untold story of Miller's novel and explores its unique importance in American literature.
About the Author
Frederick Turner is the author or editor of a dozen books, including Into the Heart of Life: Henry Miller at One Hundred. He lives in Santa Fe, NM.