"At ten man is an animal, at twenty a lunatic, at thirty a failure, at forty a fraud, and at fifty a criminal." -A quote hung on Henry Miller's workroom wall. Source of quote unknown. Source: German version of Playboy Press 1972 "My Life And Times" Henry Miller.
Best Letter to Nin?
"In the beginning was the word, but for the Word to come forth there had first to be a separation of some kind. To detach itself from the bosom of creation there had to be a need, a human need. The word is always the reminder of a more perfect state, of a union or …
Great Unknown Men
"The greatest men in the world have passed away unknown. The Buddhas and the Christs that we know are but second-rate heroes in comparison with the greatest men of whom the world knows nothing. Hundreds of these unknown heroes have lived in every country working silently. Silently they live and silently they pass away; and …
Explain Money
"About a year ago, upon reading Tropic of Cancer, Ezra Pound wrote me a postcard in his usual Cabalistic style, asking me if I had ever thought about money, what makes it and how it gets that way. The truth is that until Mr. Pound put the question to me I had never really thought …
Law & Disorder
"I would a thousand times rather be the most incorrigible convict than this hireling of those who are trying to maintain law and order. Law and order! Finally, when you see it staring at you through the barrel of a rifle, you know what it means. A bas puissance, justice, histoire! If society has to …
The Artist Is
"Admitting this, I nevertheless firmly believe that no world order, no world harmony, is possible until the artist assumes leadership. I mean by this that the artist in man must come to the fore, over against the patriot, the warrior, the diplomat, the fanatical idealist, the misguided revolutionary. It is not against the gods man …
Henry Miller's 11 (With Comments)
Henry Miller's 11 commandments for writing (that Tommi doesn't live by). Work on one thing at a time until finished. (Too many things in head.) Start no more new books, add no more new material to ‘Black Spring.’ (When working on novel thinking about a play.) Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand. …
Money Explained
Stand Still Like The Hummingbird by Henry Miller We've all been there. (I hope.) The moment where text is before you and you're not sure what will come of it. So you read on and before you know it, what you read starts to drift off the edge of something and it all becomes a …
Post-It Modernism
Black Spring by Henry Miller "What is not in the open street is false, derived, that is to say, literature." -From the opening of The Fourteenth Ward. There is no story. There is no character development. There is no mise-en-scene. This is not a novel. What we're dealing with here, dear worst-reader, are ten speck-chapters of …
Rosey Crucified
Sexus by Henry Miller As far as I'm concerned the only thing a novel needs is substance. Now put that in your hat and smoke it. The man of the hour is Henry Miller. And with him comes a dare. Ready? Ok. Try doing what I did. Read both Tropic novels back to back and …
Henry Miller In The Bar
Sometimes during this stretch of life I feel as though there is only one man I can turn to for answers. Reading his essays provides answers to questions I asked months prior. So I suppose HM and patience are my two good bed fellows(?). It is not possible for him to tell me who I …
Meek Defined
The first thing you smell is the kool-aid. That erroneous product of American ingenuity plastered like bad graffitti on the walls of our prophet (or psyche). So much so that the smell didn't even come from the mix in water but the skin of a beautiful woman--from behind her left earlobe, from real flesh. Only …
Unsoiled Ground
Begin this... Last (or lost) in home around subtle thunder with no storm. There is little to be said in these silly days where one war is being questioned and another baptized with a hope of finding POWs. The controversy and duality is enorm, like a gap in the knitting of a large quilt. But …
