Tropic of Cancer

Author Bio: Henry Miller

Henry Miller (1891–1980) was born in New York City and raised in Brooklyn. He lived in Europe, particularly Paris, Berlin, the south of France, and Greece; in New York; and in Beverly Glen, Big Sur, and Pacific Palisades, California, where he died. He is also the author, among many other works, of Tropic of Capricorn, the Rosy Crucifixion trilogy (Sexus, Plexus, Nexus), and The Air-Conditioned Nightmare. Many of his novels, including Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, were banned in the United States until almost thirty years after their initial publication in France. The United States’ publication of Tropic of Cancer in 1961 sparked uproar that led to a number of obscenity trials. One of the early indications of how important Miller’s career would prove to be came in 1940, when George Orwell wrote an essay entitled Inside the Whale in which he praised Miller.