Tropic of Cancer
by Miller, Henry
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Near Fine
- Seller
-
south dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: The Grove Press, 1961. Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. First Printing.. The DJ is unclipped, still bright blue, "Some Comments on Tropic of Cancer" on the rear panel. Stated first printing. Previous owner small 60s look bookplate neatly on the front pastedown hidden by the front DJ flap. Dark topstain, tight and clean. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.
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
- Wayward Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 019599
- Title
- Tropic of Cancer
- Author
- Miller, Henry
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Edition
- First Printing.
- Publisher
- The Grove Press
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1961
Terms of Sale
Wayward Books
Returns for any reason within 7 days.
About the Seller
Wayward Books
Biblio member since 2006
south dartmouth, Massachusetts
About Wayward Books
Rare and Out of Print Books
Specialities are: Steinbeck, Vietnam War Literature, Cape Cod and the Islands, Melville, Thomas Merton, Signed First Editions.
Specialities are: Steinbeck, Vietnam War Literature, Cape Cod and the Islands, Melville, Thomas Merton, Signed First Editions.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
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