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Tropic of Cancer
by Henry Miller
- Used
- good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Good/Good
- Seller
-
Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
first American printing hardcover edition in dust jacket shown (Grove Press 1961); unmarked text, prior owner front paste-down; bookplate removal scuff front paste-down; little age tone to text pages, thin staining to text block fore-edge; tight bind; clean cover bright titling, edge wear at spine ends and cover corners; dj has 2 scratches to front panel, shelf rub but no tears; flap price present HC15
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
- DrPanglossBooks
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 918201
- Title
- Tropic of Cancer
- Author
- Henry Miller
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Good
- Jacket Condition
- Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- first edition U.S.
- Publisher
- Grove Press
- Date Published
- 1961
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
Terms of Sale
DrPanglossBooks
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged. Prospective buyers whose addresses lie outside the United States should inquire about postage charges, as those posted are inaccurate. All books priced at 40 USD and higher require Priority International Mail service. Sorry, no exceptions, as too many problems have arisen using first class international postage.
About the Seller
DrPanglossBooks
Biblio member since 2008
Uncasville, Connecticut
About DrPanglossBooks
Used books: many out of print, some scarce, some collectible, most deserving more than passing interest.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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....
- Text Block
- Most simply the inside pages of a book. More precisely, the block of paper formed by the cut and stacked pages of a book....
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- 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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