Henry Miller on Writing (New Directions Paperbook) [Paperback]

Henry Miller (Author), Thomas H. Moore (Editor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation (January 1964)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811201120
• ISBN-13: 978-0811201124
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NOT JUST FOR WRITERS, August 20, 2003

By 

Jon Fobes "jonfobes | www.fobes.net" (Lorain, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Henry Miller on Writing (New Directions Paperbook) (Paperback)

A wonderful book, not just for writers or literature lovers, but for anyone interested in thinking and living creatively. Packed with well-worded wisdom. My favorite passages have become guidelines for my life. Some examples:

It should be borne in mind, of course, that there is an inevitable discrepancy between the truth of the matter and what one thinks, even about himself. * Writing, like life itself, is a voyage of discovery. * I began in absolute chaos and darkness, in a bog or swamp of ideas and emotions and experiences. * Good and bad dropped out of my vocabulary. * I talk now about Reality, but I know there is no getting at it. * I eschew all clear cut interpretations: with increasing simplification the mystery heightens. * What I know tends to become more and more unstable. * I find there is plenty of room in the world for everybody. * One can only go forward by going backward and then sideways and then up and then down. * My charts and plans are the slenderest sort of guides. * Understanding is not a piercing of the mystery, but an acceptance of it, a living blissfully with it, in it, through it and by it. * Every line and word is vitally connected with my life, my life only, be it in the form of deed, event, fact, thought, emotion, desire, evasion, frustration, dream, revery, vagary, even the unfinished nothings which float listlessly in the brain like the snapped filaments of a spider's web. * I had to learn to think, feel and see in a totally new fashion, in an uneducated way, in my own way, which is the hardest thing in the world.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional., July 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Henry Miller on Writing (New Directions Paperbook) (Paperback)

An especially important book for any aspiring writers or students of fiction or the creative mind. Henry Miller on Writing shows Miller as he struggles to learn how to write and questions and wrestles with all the insecurities and self-loathing that is endemic to writing. As important as John Gardner's books on writing, only more readable and more fun.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely Pick Up A Copy!, February 9, 2005

By 

Jon Minier (Jackson, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Henry Miller on Writing (New Directions Paperbook) (Paperback)

If you read Henry Miller, you are well aware that his use of language is both poetic and direct. He does little apologizing, and this book follows that philosophy. The book is a gathering of previously and not previously published works concerning the art of writing. It is edited by Thomas H. Moore, who worked with Miller to complete it.

Throughout the pages we see Miller in familiar lighting as he stresses those things about his craft that are most important to him. We also read how Miller was sometimes so absorbed in his work that he couldn't get through a meal with scribbling out pages between bites. To that end, Miller gives his greatest lesson to would-be writers - Dedication and discipline are the pillars on which the writer lives. Without those, one merely writes. He even lists "Commandments" in part of the text, wherein he describes the requirements that he placed on himself. These include, basically, writing without bounds, living fully, and placing the art of writing above friends and hobbies. It is this reinforcement that shows how hard Miller struggled to maintain his place as a writer. He reminded himself to work on one piece at a time.

There is a section entitled "Obscenity and the Law of Reflection," and it defines Miller's view on what obscenity is why it cannot truly be debated or defined. All of this is treasured reading for the Miller fan. There are many fine chapters covering the various aspects of the life and the profession of Henry Miller. It is extremely well written and organized. If you enjoy Miller, this book will only enhance your opinions. If you do not care for his work, perhaps this book will explain why Miller chose to write what he had inside of him and how he shaped his style to fit his soul. Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Miller, but very much on my mind since I purchased it off Amazon is "The Losers' Club" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.