Tropic of Cancer
by Miller, Henry
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Berkeley, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Keimeisha, Tokyo, no date. hardback. Near very good condition in red cloth with a bit of wear and spine fading. no dust jacket
Synopsis
Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer is one of the most notoriously and frequently censored books in the history of American literature. In a combination of autobiography and fiction, the novel centers of Miller’s own life as a struggling writer in Paris in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Tropic of Cancer is written in the first person and lacks linear organization, two of Miller’s most favored techniques. Some chapters are narratives about Miller’s friends and workplaces, and others are stream-of-consciousness-style reflections, but all of the chapters touch on the sexual exploits and general low-life ruthlessness in which the author had engaged at the time. Tropic of Cancer was first published by Obelisk Press, a French publisher of soft pornography, in Paris in 1934. Shortly thereafter, the novel was banned in the US and later tried for charges of obscenity, a trial that challenged American pornography laws at the time. In 1961, the ban of Tropic of Cancer was lifted, and later that year, Grove Press published the first US edition of the novel, but only after the firm’s Barney Rosset offered Miller a sizeable advance and promised to defend the author in any future legal battles regarding the publication. Grove Press’s edition of Tropic of Cancer sold over 1 million copies by the end of 1961… and was the subject of about 60 lawsuits as well, one of which involved the American Civil Liberties Union. All of this hullabaloo makes one wonder what the reactions might have been if Miller had decided to go with the novel’s working title, Crazy Cock — which was, ironically, far more modest than the published version. Regardless, the novel’s 1970 film adaptation, directed by Joseph Strick, received an X rating (meaning no one 17 and under admitted). Today, Tropic of Cancer finds itself ranked 50th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century and 59th on The Guardian’s list of the 100 best novels.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Wonderland Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 75037
- Title
- Tropic of Cancer
- Author
- Miller, Henry
- Format/Binding
- Hardback
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Keimeisha, Tokyo
- Date Published
- no date
Terms of Sale
Wonderland Books
shipping is $4.00 for media mail and $11 for priority mail for the average book. For multi volume sets and heavy and or oversize books postage will be charged at cost
About the Seller
Wonderland Books
Biblio member since 2004
Berkeley, California
About Wonderland Books
My shop is a small storefront with an eclectic stock. I have larger selections of children's books, Western Americana, Transportation, Science and Natural History store hours are Tuesday, wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 11 until 4:20
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
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