The Books in My Life [Paperback]

Henry Miller (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation; Later Printing edition (October 1, 1969)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811201082
• ISBN-13: 978-0811201087
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #238,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Literary nurturing of a genius, October 24, 1999

By 

George Schaefer - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Books in My Life (Paperback)

Henry Miller may be the greatest American writer of the Twentieth Century. But there is always the question of who bore influence the genius. How many of us want to learn about the work that shaped the mind of the genius writer. Well, to find out, read this book. It will give you a great feel for where Miller was coming from. It touches on Millers entire reading career. You come away with an idea of how this literary genius came to develop and grow. This book is a phenomenal resource for anyone interested in literature and occult and religious writing. I have used this book as a remarkable resource for my own personal literary education. I have spent many hours in bookstores all over America looking for titles that Mr. Miller recommended in this book. I discovered Jean Giono and Blaise Cendrars and Madame Helena Blavatsky through this book. I also learned to put aside literary snobbism and enjoy the boy books by writers like H. Rider Haggard and G.K. Chesterton. Through Miller, I learned about obscure writers like Marie Corelli and John Cowper Powys. I read adventure books like The Unveiling of Timbuctoo. This book is a primer for anyone interested in literature of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. I would recommend this book for dedicated Millerites and literary-minded persons of all persuasions. Miller gave the world a wonderful gift in this book. If you are interested in literature then buy this book and begin the search for yourself.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Of My All-Time Favorite Books!, December 4, 2001

By 

First Things First "captainreflection" (Burbank, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Books in My Life (Paperback)

This wonderful book has had a tremendous impact on my reading and on my life, mainly because of the list Henry put at the end almost as an afterthought: "The Hundred Books That Influenced Me Most". I have been slowly buying and reading these books, many of which I had never heard of (and/or never heard of the authors). In every single instance, they have been remarkable, incredible, mind-blowing, life-changing, and stupendous. The book itself is great fun, and written with Miller's usual masterful command of language, however I must caution prudes to stay away. His storytelling muse it at the height of its powers here, as he recounts his encounters with books, authors, bookshops and women, not necessarily in that order. It is compelling to hear of how Miller's love affair with books began, gained momentum and turned into a lifelong obsession. I recommend this book to you with the greatest possible enthusiasm. Have fun with it!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading The Books In My Life is like seeing a man made., July 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Books in My Life (Paperback)

THE BOOKS IN MY LIFE is simply outstanding. Reading it was like glimpsing the making of a man. I own another book of Miller's in which he wrote an essay about, and entitled, ON TURNING 80. This was a work by the end product, Henry Miller, the man reflecting on life. He was a very different man than the cocky, young, expatriate who wrote TROPIC OF CANCER. Both of these Henry Millers wrote beautiful and insightful prose.

The thing that is so unique about THE BOOKS IN MY LIFE is that the reader is allowed to see the influences that were involved in the shaping of the man. Hearing him speak of the books he read as a child, SHE and AYESHA and ROBINSON CRUSOE, conjure the very essence of childhood. Miller was nurtured by these books and when he became a man and read Celine and Dostoievsky and Walt Whitman, he continued to be nurtured and subsequently, to grow.

Miller was brilliant because when he wrote about a subject, he touched it. He knew how to truly make contact with it. THE BOOKS IN MY LIFE, like everything he ever wrote, I think, is extraordinary